


You Are Here

by stellarose



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Alternate Universe - Small Town, Domestic Fluff, Endgame Sara Lance/Ava Sharpe, F/F, Fluff and Angst, HBIC Sara Lance, Light Angst, Sara Lance/Ava Sharpe-centric, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-20
Updated: 2020-10-14
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:49:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 28
Words: 71,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26004451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stellarose/pseuds/stellarose
Summary: When her flight is diverted to a small regional town, Ava meets the locals, including the woman in charge, Sara Lance. During Ava's unscheduled stay in town, they begin to hit it off, but Ava soon has to leave again. Upon returning home (and after a quick Instagram search), she gets the feeling that she and Sara have crossed paths before.
Relationships: Sara Lance/Ava Sharpe
Comments: 270
Kudos: 518





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The title and a few themes/scenarios are based on the musical "Come From Away". 
> 
> Kudos and comments are much appreciated :)

Ava entered her townhouse, dumped her bag and kicked off her shoes. She usually took them off carefully so as not to scuff them or leave marks on the wall, but tonight she didn’t care. She hung her coat on a peg and dragged herself into the kitchen. Ava poured herself a cold glass of water, drank the whole thing in a couple of mouthfuls, then went and sunk onto the couch. She should get changed. She should make dinner, or at least order take-away or UberEats or something. She rested her head against the cushions and sighed.

Years ago, Ava and her colleagues had been warned that one day they might see something or be part of something which was the last thing they could take in their jobs. It might be in four days, or four months, or four years, or forty-four years, but one day, one day something would just snap, and they couldn’t do it anymore. Ava had never thought that would apply to her, but now here she was. This morning, she’d loved her job. Tonight, she didn’t want to do it anymore.

Ava wondered if it was because of the distance; here she was, safe across the world, in the comfort of her own apartment. Even at work, her desk space was neat and familiar and set out exactly as she liked it. She was good at her job. Ava felt anxious, wondering if today she’d been good enough. It was just logistics, Ava tried to tell herself, logistics of which a part of were injured humans. If she was being cynical, she was nothing but a glorified emergency services dispatcher, and one who didn’t even have to hear the pleading and desperate cries of loved ones in need of an ambulance at that.

“It’s never been an issue before,” Ava said out-loud to the house, as there was no one there to hear. She grabbed a cushion to hug. Somewhere, someone was wanting to hug that little girl, and they couldn’t. No, she wasn’t a little girl. She was an adult, only a few years younger than Ava. But when Ava had read her age… Was the issue that the girl was young? Was it that she was a girl? Ava had evacuated women before. She’d evacuated people younger than her before. Ava sighed. Technically, she’d never evacuated anyone. She sat behind a desk, sending emails and making phone calls. She was a cog in the machine, easily replaceable with another just like her.

 _Little sister_. For some reason, those had been the first words which had come to Ava’s mind when they case came up. She didn’t know if the girl was a little sister. Maybe she was the oldest. Maybe she was an only child, like Ava. Ava didn’t even know her name. She never knew their names; it wasn’t necessary. The girl hadn’t even been the only case today; she was just the one who was assigned to Ava. Ava, at her desk, safe and sound on the ground across the world. Ava, who had to get a new job.

~Three years later~

“Ok, people, listen up!” Sara said, standing on a chair. The townsfolk quietened and turned to her. “Usually we have between 6 and 10 flights per day, and half of those are twelve-seaters or smaller, and the rest are cargo planes. We just got word that we’re expecting at least six jets in the next hour, mostly A320s and 747s,” she announced, trying not to sound too impressed at the aircraft models. “Our airport wasn’t just built for looks, it was built for business. We’re about to have a couple of thousand people pitch up for who knows how long, because of that incoming storm. The plan for how we’re going to help these people is constantly evolving, as is the situation. So I’ve got to ask you all to just roll with it.”

Sara gave out more specific instructions, and everyone from the youngest to the older members of the Franklin, California community sprung into action. As far as Sara was aware, the situation was unprecedented for the township of Franklin, but Sara had seen enough of the townsfolk in the past two years to know how they would pull together in times of crisis. Besides, someone in a much higher position of authority must have kept up the funding for such a huge runway at such a small airport for a reason.

“You gunna offer your couch to one of these poor sods?” Charlie asked, sliding up to Sara.

“Don’t you have some children to wrangle?” Sara asked.

“Oi! Bailey, Claire, and James Barker. I need ya to do a lap of the school yard, and take anything that isn’t nailed down into the sports shed. Including the wheelie bins. And any lost property, and any toys the kindergarteners have left in the sandpit. Then put the sandpit cover on, and find a couple of rocks to put on the corners.”

“But we’re not allowed to move rocks, Ms C,” Bailey said.

“It’s an emergency, mate. If anyone asks, you tell ‘em I told you ya could. Off ya go.” The kids ran out of the town hall, feeling important for having been given a job to do. “Right, kids wrangled. What’s next?”

Sara smirked. “This isn’t going to be as easy as shouting orders at a few middle-schoolers who mistakenly think you’re the coolest person they’ve ever met.”

“They’re correct. I am the coolest person they’ve ever met,” Charlie grinned.

“Excuse me, I’m the coolest person they’ve ever met.”

“Oh, please. They totally just saw you trying not to geek out over mid-sized passenger aircraft. I’m gunna pop home and check everything’s inside, then I’ll come meet you at the airport. Someone’s gotta make sure you’re not run off your feet.”

“Come on. I have totally got this.”

Charlie scoffed. “Sorry, which one of us worked with the general public Heathrow for nearly five years, actually dealing with the customers? You’re gunna need all the help you can get, Cap.”

“My customer service skills are exemplary!” Sara called after Charlie.

“Your customer service skills are shit!” Charlie called back and gave a wave as she left the town hall.

…

Before the pilot made the announcement, before Ava had even boarded the plane from Washington DC that morning, she had known that this trip was not going to go soothly. As Deputy Director of the Office of National Emergency, it was her job to know anything and everything that could go wrong, and Storm Damian in the Pacific Ocean had had bad news written all over it from the moment it formed. During their flight it had received a couple of upgrades, and was now Category 2 Hurricane Damian, expected to make landfall on the coast of California later that afternoon.

Ava turned up the volume to her headphones, hoping to drown out the angry and confused complaints of the passengers around her. She wasn’t sure if it made their frustration more or less considering that they were so close to their destination. It didn’t matter that Sacramento was nearby, or that they’d just flown over Salt Lake City and were approaching Reno. Their flight was being diverted to somewhere called Franklin Municipal Airport. If air traffic control had ordered all planes out of the sky, then it wasn’t up to the irate passengers where they landed.

The seatbelt light flashed, and not for the first time. Turbulence caused the plane to bounce. The sky outside still looked clear, but the turbulence was an early indicator or what was to come. Ava watched one of the flight attendants give a man a personal invitation to fasten his seatbelt. There was always someone, Ava thought. Someone who was too damn full of himself to follow instructions unless asked to do so specifically. That was half the reason her department existed, to corral those too egotistical, too stubborn or just too damn stupid to follow advice.

Ava peered out the window, watching as the ground seemed to catch up with the plane. The electronic map on the back of the seats gave a vague idea of where they were, but it hadn’t been updated and still thought the plane was on course to San Fransisco. Ava looked at all the trees and farms and the occasional lake. There were a few roads, and the odd town here and there, but this was a very remote part of the country, with thick woodland to the west, and desert to the east.

Ava sighed. San Fransisco wasn’t even her final destination. That was just the stop-over to change for her flight to Tokyo for a work conference. She rubbed her eyes. The department had such little money they were sending only one of the Deputy Directors, and not even on a direct flight, because even though this was going to take nearly half a day longer, it would save a couple of hundred dollars. Ava yawned. It had been an early start to get to the airport. The plane bumped again. They were nearly down. Now all she could see were trees.

A few moments later there was a bump as the aeroplane hit the runway. Ava had never been to an airport that seemed to emerge out of the woods. After a few minutes, once the plane had slowed down and began taxiing towards the terminal, which was little more than a large shed, Ava could see their’s wasn’t the only plane that had been diverted here, or the largest. She counted eight other planes from five different airlines, all parked as best they could. She could see engineers and crew in their high-vis vests out on the tarmac. Ava wondered how many more planes would be diverted here, how long they’d have to wait to disembark, and if the townsfolk here had any idea as to how to manage something like this.

…

Ava wanted to make herself known to whoever was in charge as soon as possible, but she was kicking herself for packing her work identification in her checked luggage. The passengers had only been allowed to take their carry-on luggage off the plane. They had no idea where they really were, other than somewhere in northern California. To make things even better, there was no phone reception. The locals had been fairly quick at getting the air-stairs to the plane and ushering everyone into the tiny terminal. Ava looked back out the large window. The people in the high-vis vests, along with the flight crews, looked to be physically tying down the planes. Good, she thought.

Less good, Ava reflected, was the fact that Americans struggled to form an orderly line. She loved going to Japan or Britain for that very reason: they knew how to queue.

“Lining up! No pushing, please. We’re going as quick as we can, but we need to know who you all are, then we can get you into the town,” a young black woman with an English accent called in a very loud voice, as she walked up and down the disorderly lines.

“Well I know who I am,” said the man in front of Ava who Ava recognised as Personal Fasten Your Seatbelt Invitation Guy.

“Well, I don’t,” said the woman, standing up to the man. She looked half his size, but Ava had a feeling she could take him.

“I’ve got my drivers licence right here. Where even are we? This is ridiculous! Who’s in charge here?”

“The chick marking your names off. You got a problem, you tell her.”

The man backed down. Ava smiled to herself. “Umm, excuse me,” she said to the woman as she walked past. “My name is Ava Sharpe, and I’m D - ”

“Hey, Charlie! We need a hand back here!” someone called.

“Gotta go,” Charlie said.

Ava sighed, slowly shuffling forwards. She couldn’t see the woman at the front of the queue who was marking off the names. Ava imagined a big, no-nonsense middle-aged woman, probably the high school principal who was used to dealing with shit from hormonal teenagers and had no time for jerks like Seatbelt Guy. She was quite surprised when she saw that it was in fact a pretty woman younger than herself, with her blonde hair tied in a high pony-tail, who sat behind the desk.

“Ok, thank-you Peterson family. Next please!”

“Why do we have to do this? Don’t you people already know who’s on the flight?” Seatbelt Guy asked.

“I’m sorry, I don’t see anyone by the name of Jerk, Massive on my list. How do you spell that?” the blonde woman deadpanned. Ava had to bite her lip so as not to laugh.

“What?”

“Your airline was kind enough to send us the booking list, not the boarding list, and we don’t have fancy little ticket scanners. Therefore, we have no idea who’s actually on your plane, so we’re doing this the old-fashioned way. When you get to leave, we need to make sure that no one is left behind, and we don’t want to be running around looking for someone who never even left…” she checked the departure city, “Washington DC. So. Name?”

“Zaman Druce.”

“The hell kind of name is that?” the woman muttered, scanning over the list with her yellow highlighter in hand. “Never mind, you’re on the list. Next!”

Ava stepped up. “Ava Sharpe.”

“Yep. Next,” the woman said, highlighting Ava’s name without even looking at her.

“Actually, I’m the Deputy Director of the - ”

The woman looked up and her deep blue eyes met Ava’s. “I’m sure that’s great, but right now, I don’t care.”

Ava felt angry and flustered both at once.

“Exit’s that way,” the woman said dismissively, pointing to her left.

“Oh, right, yeah, ok,” Ava stammered, and hurried away, feeling frustrated and oddly embarrassed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Office of National Emergency (ONE) is borrowed from the X-Men comics. As far as I can tell, there is no Franklin, California in real life, or an airport with the code FKC (that will come up later). Plenty of back-story explanations to come.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank-you everyone for the comments and kudos. Plenty more story to come :D

Ava was trying not to stress and not to fret, and not to get frustrated. The airport was remarkably close to the town, so all of the stranded passengers were ushered along the footpath to the school. There was someone handing out bottles of water, and a table full of trays of sandwiches. Ava overheard someone complaining that none of the sandwiches had chicken. She wanted to smack whoever that was.

After a long wait in the bathroom queue (the men’s bathroom having no line at all, as usual), Ava found herself loitering at the side of the gym, with her carry-on bag between her feet. There were people everywhere, and the gym was echoey and loud. No one had any news about the storm or how long they were going to be here, but she really did think that the townsfolk were doing the best they could given the circumstances. If she put herself in the shoes of the blonde woman marking off the names, Ava wouldn’t have accepted help from a newly arrived outsider either. But Ava still wanted to help. She checked her phone out of habit, the _No Signal_ text where the bars of reception usually mocking her.

A small group of people in high-vis vests entered the gym, and Ava recognised both Charlie and the blonde woman amongst them. If the blonde woman really was the one in charge, as she certainly looked to be as other townsfolk who had been at the school automatically approached her, then Ava had to talk to her. She had to let her know who she was and that she was willing and able to do whatever they needed.

Ava picked up her carry-on bag and tried to make her way through the throng of stranded passengers to the group, but as she made her way across the gym, she lost site of both Charlie and the blonde woman. There was another woman, similar in age to Ava with brown hair and a kind smile standing near the door, answering the questions of the passengers as they came up to her. Ava joined the ad-hoc queue.

“Hi, sorry, my name is Ava Sharpe,” Ava said, as soon as she was close enough to the woman, realising that if she didn’t interrupt, she’d be enterally pushed aside by someone else.

“Hi, I’m Nora,” the woman smiled. Ava wondered how she stayed so patient and calm while dealing with all these people and their generally idiotic questions and queries.

“Hi. Umm, I’m Deputy Director of the Office of National Emergency and I - ”

“Damn, they’ve got the Feds out here already? Usually you guys don’t make it to towns like Franklin for days.”

“What? No, sorry, I’m one of the passengers, but I’m also Deputy - look, I - I just want to help.”

“Ok,” Nora said. “Come with me. Did you meet Sara at the airport?”

“Which one’s Sara?”

“The blonde woman, the one who was marking off the names.”

“Of course,” Ava said, as much to herself as to Nora. “I tried to tell her, but…”

“She’s under a lot of pressure,” Nora said kindly. “We’ve had a whole summer worth of guests arrive in just two hours, plus a storm coming. Now, where did they - there they are. Sara!” Nora called.

Ava looked around, noticing that Nora had led her down a corridor and into a very large classroom. Ava then realised that the partition walls had been concertinaed to the side, opening up the two classrooms into one. Half a dozen middle schoolers were stacking all the tables and chairs to the side.

“Sam, I told you not to drag the tables, you’ll rip up the carpet,” Charlie said, seemingly in charge of the operation, though she’d just arrived back. "Noah, give Sam a hand, will you. Once we’re finished in here, you’re all to go home, please. Rhys, what’s the question, mate?”

Sara was down the other end of the room, helping a couple of student stack the chairs.

“Hey, Sara?” Nora said.

“Yep,” Sara said, without looking.

“This is Ava Sharpe. She’s the - sorry, what was your job title again?”

“Deputy Director of the Office of National Emergency,” Ava said holding out her hand.

Sara shook it, though she looked unimpressed. “Ok,” she said dismissively.

“She might be able to help. I’m going back to stop the passengers from causing a riot in the gym. Honestly, some of those men are worse than my kindergarteners,” Nora said, and left the room.

“All right, gang, good job with the chairs. You heard Charlie, time to head home,” Sara said, ignoring Ava.

“I can help,” Ava said. “There’s lots of things I can - ”

“Can you create a thousand-bed hotel in the next hour or so?” Sara asked, stepping up to Ava. Ava noticed how short Sara was. “Or magically get some mobile signal, because cable phones and internet have also been out for the past hour. Otherwise we really don’t - ”

“Yes.”

“What?”

“I can do that,” Ava said.

“Do what?” Sara asked.

“Get phone signal,” Ava said, hoping she came across more confident than she felt.

“Really?” Sara looked at Ava disbelievingly.

“I’m Deputy Director of the Office of National Emergency. I’m pretty sure I can get a bit of phone signal. I need a satellite phone though, because obviously I… have no signal,” Ava said.

Sara looked her up and down. Ava wasn’t sure if she was being checked out or sized up.

“Ok,” Sara said, unclipping the satellite phone from her belt. “Don’t lose it. You can use the staffroom, it’s the last door down the hallway on the left. It’s too small to put any of the passengers in, so we’re using it for storage.”

“Yeah, there’s about half a dozen portable whiteboards, the dress-up box from the kindergarten room, and a couple of dozen Hokki stools,” Charlie said. The last of the students had gone, leaving only the three women. “I think we met at the airport. I’m Charlie.”

“Ava,” Ava said, and held out her hand.

“Great,” Charlie said, shaking it. “Want me to mind your bag?”

“Oh, thanks,” Ava said, handing her carry-on bag to Charlie. “Right, well I better go call my people.”

“Of course,” Sara said, watching Ava as she left the classroom.

“You’re staring at her arse,” Charlie muttered, as they watched Ava leave the room.

“What? No I’m not,” Sara said. “‘I better go call my people’. What a pretentious - ”

“What if she does it, though?” Charlie asked.

“Does what?” Sara asked, folding her arms.

“Gets mobile signal.”

Sara shrugged. “It’s a bonus if she does and no loss if she doesn’t. She doesn’t know that the town is in a signal blackhole on a good day.”

“Then we’ll make a bet,” Charlie said. “If she works a miracle and gets us reception, you have to invite her to crash at yours.”

“What? No.” Sara grumbled.

“Come on, Cap, you gunna let her stay with the rabble out in the gym? She’ll get eaten alive.”

“I’m - ugh, fine,” Sara relented. “But if she doesn’t, which she won’t, then I don’t have to ask.”

“Deal. You were checking out her arse though.”

“She is well fit, as you would put it,” Sara unable to stop herself from smirking.

Charlie laughed, the English slang sounding so unnatural when Sara said it.

Sara rolled her eyes. “Come on, let’s go help Nora sort out those grumpy middle-aged jerks. Men, sorry. I mean men.”

“You gotta be careful or you’ll call one of them a jerk to their face,” Charlie said as they slowly crossed the classroom.

“I did earlier. He definitely had it coming,” Sara said. “If anyone causes any issues, I’ll get Mick onto it.”

“Have you eaten today? I’m gunna find you some sandwiches and somewhere to sit.”

“I’m fine, _mum_.”

“Just looking out for you, that’s all,” Charlie said, putting her hands up.

Sara gave her a friendly bump. “I’m a bit in my element, to tell you the truth.”

“Oh, I can tell. You get to be boss of everyone and everything, and you’re absolutely beaming. Plus you got to look at a whole bunch of mid-sized passenger planes.”

“Stop calling them that,” Sara laughed.

“That’s what they are!” Charlie exclaimed. “Now, when’s Z and the other nerds finishing at the airport? I think I’m going to have to stay here and help with crowd control. At least with the classroom cleared, that’ll sleep about 80.”

“We’re lucky the people from the first three plane loads of people were able to be taken to Lexington,” Sara said, referring to the much larger town ten miles up the road. They could have taken more people, however the police and parks departments agreed that the road through the forest was too dangerous for the buses to continue to travel on given the increasingly high winds, so all passengers from the final six planes had to stay in Franklin.

“Can you imagine if we had another five hundred people here?” Charlie said. “We can barely cope with this lot.”

“We’ll manage,” said Sara. “We have to.”

“They could be here for days.”

“I know. I don’t think they do though. Not yet, anyway.”

“You gotta go home soon,” Charlie said.

“I’m fine.”

“You gotta go home. It’s not a question or a suggestion. Hopefully taking Deputy Director Pantsuit with you,” Charlie said with a wink.

“What?”

“Didn’t you notice she was wearing pantsuit trousers with her stripy jumper?”

“So you were checking out her ass as well.”

“You were the one who called her well fit,” Charlie teased. “What’s Z got to say,” she said, as her phone vibrated in her pocket. “They’re finished at at the airport and - ” Charlie stopped and looked at Sara. “She did it.”

Sara pulled out her phone. There was two bars of reception and 3G service. In the gym, people’s phones were pinging and ringing. Just about everyone pulled out a device and began calling and texting their loved ones to let them know where they were and what was going on.

“She did it,” Charlie repeated. “We’re lucky to get two bars of reception on a good day in the middle of the school yard.”

“Huh,” Sara said, sending a quick message to her dad.

“Umm, I’m sure if that will work or if… I’m guessing it worked,” Ava said, reappearing, looking into the gym.

“It worked all right,” Charlie grinned. “This is bloody amazing. You’re a miracle worker.”

“I don’t know about that,” Ava said awkwardly, not used to getting praise for her work.

“Good job,” Sara said, and offered Ava a tight smile while pocketing her phone.

“Anything you want to add?” Charlie muttered to Sara and smirked.

“This is yours,” Ava said, handing the satellite phone back to Sara. “I don’t know how long the reception will last given the storm’s on it’s way, but…”

“It’s a whole lot better than nothing,” Sara said.

Ava nodded. “I definitely want to help with whatever else you need, but I need a moment to call my parents. They always gets nervous when I fly.”

“No worries,” Charlie said. “I’ll keep hold of your bag. We’ll be in the gym, listening to everyone’s complaints about how YouTube keeps buffering and that there’s no hot dogs or beer on offer.”

Ava smiled and nodded, heading back down the hallway where it was a little bit quieter. Gary in the office back in DC knew she was alive and well, but Ava had told him she’d call her parents herself, rather than having them get a call from Gary which would only make them panic.

“Hello, Sharpe household.”

“Mom, it’s me,” Ava said.

“Ava! Darling, where are you? Did you get to San Francisco? What happened? Your father was tracking your flight on PlaneFinder, but then it just disappeared! You should have landed hours ago.”

“I know, I know. I’m safe and sound on the ground here in Franklin. Somewhere up northern California, nearish to the Washington and Nevada borders, I think. It’s a very small town. I didn’t have reception when I landed, and it is likely to cut out again.”

“Oh, darling, I’m just relieved that you’re safe. Keep your belongings close, don’t talk to strangers - ”

“Mom, literally everyone here is a stranger,” Ava said, smiling to herself that her mother still had the same concerns as she did when sending Ava off on school camp year ago. “Some of the people in charge seem ok though. It’s - this town seems to be run by the women, and they’re pretty highly strung, but they’ve got their act together.”

“That’s high praise coming from you, sweetheart,” Pam said.

Ava chuckled. “Are you and dad all right?”

“The dogs are already hiding in the laundry, and your father has put the barbecue and outdoor furniture in the garage. He keeps checking the weather apps and PlaneFinder, but at least we know where you are now. We’ll look it up on the Google Maps. It’s very windy, but I don’t think Fresno will get much more than heavy rain and some wind.”

“Well, you take care. I better go. Just thought I better let you know I’m all right. Say hi to dad for me.”

“Of course, darling. Now, you take care, and keep in touch.”

“I will when I can,” Ava said. “See you, mom.”

“Love you, honey. Take care. Look after yourself. Stay safe.”

“Bye mom,” Ava said, hanging up before her mother could continue. She wandered back towards the noisey gym, looking around for Sara and Charlie, but spotted another group of people in high-vis clothing. Ava gravitated towards them, assuming that Sara and Charlie would come to see these people.

“Got those planes tied down?”

Ava smiled upon hearing Sara’s voice.

“Hopefully it holds,” one of the women in the group said, who Ava recognised from the airport.

“Hopefully we’ll just get a storm. The planes should be safer here than wherever they were destined, by they’ve downgraded the Hurricane to a Category 1,” Sara said. “Oh, Ava, you’re back.”

“Yep,” Ava said.

“You get through?” Sara asked.

“Yeah, I spoke to my mom,” Ava said.

“Great. Charlie gave your bag to Mona over at the sandwich table. Hold on, hey Charlie!” Sara called.

Charlie excused herself from the people she was talking to and rejoined the group. “Yo, Zari!” Charlie grinned.

“Before you say anything else,” Zari said, “I adopted a cabin crew, and they’re staying in our house. Not right this second, because I haven’t been home yet, but I’m going to go home with them and make a whole lot of food to feed all our guests before the power goes out. Ok?”

“That’s fine. I went home earlier and put the cat in.”

“Thank-you,” Zari grinned. “Will you come home later?”

“Don’t think so, I think I’ll stay here and crowd control.”

“Ok. Well, safe stay,” Zari said, and gave Charlie a quick kiss on the lips before departing.

“You gotta go too, Cap,” Charlie said.

Sara sighed. “Meany,” she teased.

“You love me, and you know that I’m right. I’d call Gideon and tell her to tell you to go home, but it’s the middle of the night for her and I’m afraid she’d come through the phone and strangle me if I woke her.”

Sara laughed. “Ok, ok, I’m going. I just - ”

“Don’t you have something you need to ask?” Charlie said.

Sara pulled a face at Charlie before turning to Ava. “Fine. Hey, Ava, you need a couch to crash on?”

“What?” Ava asked.

“You can stay at the school if you want, but I have a fold-out couch, and… I mean, if you want you can crash at mine.”

“I, umm. Yes. Please,” Ava said, looking at the raucous group of displaced travellers in the gym. “Thank-you. A lot. Thank-you, I - ”

“Let’s move,” Sara said, “Go grab your bag off Mona.”

Ava hurried over to the table with a lot less trays of sandwiches on it than earlier. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Charlie laughing as Sara dramatically rolled her eyes. Ava felt awkward, not sure if accepting Sara’s invitation was the right thing to do. She was quickly distracted by Mona’s over-friendly chattiness which reminded Ava of Gary from the office, and Ava took her bag, excused herself and returned to Sara’s company.

“I only live a block away. I mean, everything in the town is really only a block or two away. Oh, geez, it’s gotten windy,” Sara said as she opened the door to head outside. Ava gripped her carry-on bag and followed close behind as they door swung shut.

“I’m Sara Lance, by the way,” Sara said. “I don’t think we were introduced properly. I more or less run the airport, do the odd bit of supply teaching at the school, and help out in the cafe in the summer. And you, Ava Sharpe, whatever you do, you can get phone reception reconnected to a random tiny blackhole town in the middle of nowhere.”

“Yeah,” Ava said. “Well, I - I mean, most of the time, I - ”

“That’s a compliment, Sharpe.”

“Oh, yeah. Thanks,” Ava said, feeling oddly flattered.


	3. Chapter 3

It began to rain just as Sara and Ava arrived at Sara’s neat little mid-century weatherboard house.

“Sorry I don’t have a spare room as such,” Sara said, pulling off her sneakers. “I use it as my office. The couch is there,” she said, pointing to the living room. “And I know this is a little weird, but I need to bolt the door, otherwise is rattles in the wind.”

“That’s fine,” Ava said, looking around the neat little house.

“You can put your bag down in the living room. Don’t worry about your shoes. Actually, if you’d like a shower, I suggest having one now. The power all but guaranteed to go out at some stage, and it’s easier to shower in the light.”

“Ok. Yes, actually, that would be great,” Ava said. She always felt a bit gross after flying, and a hot shower sounded wonderful.

“Yeah, you always need a shower after spending hours on a plane,” Sara said, almost reading Ava’s mind.

Ava followed her up the narrow hallway.

“My room, my office, and here’s the bathroom-slash-laundry,” Sara said, giving Ava a brief tour and opening the door to a good sized bathroom.

“There’s no tricks to the plumbing or anything?” Ava asked.

“No, all good. The bathroom’s new, so nothing to worry about. I’ll go make us something to eat,” Sara said, closing the door behind Ava.

Ava placed her bag on the floor and began to strip off. “Sara? Where are the towels?” she called, feeling stupid for not having asked earlier.

“In the cupboard,” Sara called.

Ava opened the cupboard under the sink, only to find if full of assorted hair products, body lotion, toilet paper, a basket full of travel-sized toiletries, and another basket with a large collection of prescription medication.

“The tall cupboard, next to the washing machine,” Sara continued.

Ava swallowed and quickly closed the cupboard she was looking in, and opened the tall cupboard beside the basin, finding a shelf full of towels.

“Thanks!” Ava called, feeling as though she had seen something that was none of her business. She finished getting undressed and jumped into the shower, appreciating the steaming hot water and strong pressure from the shower head. Ava felt tension fall from her shoulders as the water streamed over her body. She didn’t have to go to the conference. She didn’t have to engage in small talk with people, primarily men, she barely knew and hardly liked. She didn’t have to go to those awkward dinners, and pretend she’d learnt so much at lectures and keynote speeches given by people with no idea as to what they were talking about, to have her job mansplained to her, and stay in an average hotel that would definitely not have a shower with water pressure nearly this good. She was missing out on delicious Japanese cuisine, but perhaps she’d have to take a vacation there another time for a proper culinary experience.

Ava reluctantly turned the shower off. She dried off and got dressed into her matching navy pyjamas with large pink and red roses printed on them, pulling a grey hoodie on over the top, hoping that Sara wouldn’t think she was getting too comfortable. Ava put on her face cream and pulled on a thick pair of socks, before stuffing her clothes into her carry on bag and returning to the living room.

“Something smells nice,” Ava said, entering the kitchen and dining room. There was a round table with four chairs, with half a dozen candles in jars and two torches placed on it, and a neat, modern kitchen, though a little smaller than Ava would like. Not that it mattered, she reminded herself. She didn’t live here. This was Sara’s kitchen. She was a guest.

“Bucatini all’amatriciana,” Sara said. “I don’t have guanciale, you can’t get it around here, but the pancetta available at the deli in Lexington is pretty good. And they have pecorino, so the dish fairly accurate. Oh, do you have any dietary requirements? I probably should have asked.”

“No,” Ava said. “I - no, I’ll try just about anything.”

“Can you cook?”

“A bit,” Ava said.

“Would you mind taking over?” Sara asked. “I want to have a quick shower too. Oh, I should have said that I have a whole lot of travel toiletries. Did you need anything? Sorry, it’s been a busy day.”

“Thanks, of course, no, I’m fine,” Ava said. “I’m a fairly fastidious packer. I always have two days worth of clothes, pyjamas and essential toiletries in my carry-on. Just in case.”

“Well, if you do need any miniature soaps or tiny bottles of shampoo, I have permanently borrowed a whole lot from a whole lot of hotels,” Sara said with a wicked smile as she held the spatula out to Ava.

Ava took the spatula from Sara and took Sara’s position in the kitchen.

“I won’t be long. I just put the pasta on and it will take longer to cook than I do to shower. Just keep stirring the sauce. Please.”

“Of course,” Ava said, and Sara left her alone. Ava stirred the sauce, then looked around the kitchen. Rain lashed against the windows. There was a framed map of the world on the wall behind the kitchen table.

“There’s cold water, lemonade and Cokes in the fridge if you want one,” Sara called.

Ava was about to call out in thanks, but she heard the shower turn on, and knew Sara wouldn’t hear her. She opened the fridge and took out a can of lemonade. She didn’t drink soft drink very often, but tonight she felt she deserved it. She would have liked something stronger, but was not about to ask. As she closed the fridge, Ava noticed some of the magnets on it, the first to catch her eye being a rainbow flag with _London Pride 2014_ printed on it in a sparkly, cursive font.

“Huh,” Ava muttered to herself, finding another London Pride magnet, this one from 2015, with a different stylised font in blue, purple and pink. She returned to the pasta sauce, wondering just who this woman was who had taken her into her home.

…

Sara and Ava shared their meal, keeping the conversation general. Ava hadn’t realised how hungry she was, and didn’t know how to tell Sara that a big bowl of hearty pasta was exactly what she needed. Ava was glad that Sara had emerged from the bathroom in stripy pyjama pants, teamed with a black sweatshirt. Seeing Sara dressed this way took away a lot of her toughness, and seemed to soften her demeanour as well. The storm was now raging outside, and the lights kept flickering.

“Any minute now we’ll lose power,” Sara said. “We should probably make up your bed before it goes out. It will be out for hours, hopefully no longer than a day, but who knows. Then we could finish the ice-cream? There’s not much left.”

“That’d be great,” Ava said. “But I hate to be eating all your food.”

Sara shrugged, leading the way into the living room. “It’s here to be eaten. Once the storm passes, clearing the road between here and Lexington will be a priority, and we’ll be able to go there to get more supplies. I’ll go get some sheets, you pull the cushions off the couch.”

Ava pulled the cushions off and placed them aside. She looked around the room, taking in the framed prints of art-deco travel posters on the wall, the fairly small, yet well-stocked bookcase which included phrase books in at least half a dozen languages, and the few framed photos, including one from about a decade ago, judging by the hair and fashion, of Sara with another blonde woman, who, if not her sister, must be a very close relative, and a young man who looked very close to the two women.

“I’ve got you two blankets because I don’t have any spare quilts,” Sara said, returning with her arms full of bedding. “And the pillow might be floppy, but - ”

“But I should have been spending the night in an economy-class seat over the Pacific Ocean, so floppy pillows are fine.”

“Where were you headed?” Sara asked, putting the bedding on the armchair before pushing the coffee table aside so there was room to make room for the bed.

“Tokyo,” Ava said. “For a conference.”

Sara pursed her lips, trying to hide a smirk. “You were headed halfway across the world to a conference on what - crisis management?”

“Disaster and Emergency Management.”

“And your flight ended up being diverted because of an emerging disaster?”

Ava chuckled. “Don’t worry, the irony has not been lost on me.”

The lights flickered again.

“Have you always lived around here?” Ava asked, as they set about making the bed.

“No,” Sara said. “Born and raised in Star City. I’ve only lived here for about two years.”

“And you already run the place?”

“Ha. I wish.”

“How did you end up here?”

“Long story,” Sara said. “But the short version is that the job at the airport was advertised, I applied, and the rest is history.”

“Do you have a history in aviation?” Ava asked.

“I was a pilot for British Airways for seven years if that counts,” Sara said, avoiding eye contact.

“Really? That’s amazing,” Ava smiled. Despite being a fairly frequent flyer, she’d never actually met a pilot. “Did you always want to be a pilot?”

“I don’t think so,” Sara said. “I was studying science at college, and at some stage I made a comment about flying, and my sister bought me a lesson voucher. One flight was all it took, and I was hooked. I dropped out of college after my second year, moved to England and didn’t look back.”

“Why British Airways? Why not anything here?”

Sara gave a nonchalant shrug, tucking in the blankets. “They have a good pilot cadet programme, I applied, met all the requirements and got in.”

“That’s really - ”

A loud clap of thunder startled them both, and the power went out.

“Lucky we made the bed,” Sara said, pulling her phone out of her pocket and flicking the torch on. They went back to the kitchen, and Sara lit two of the candles on the table. “Take one of the torches,” she said to Ava, turning her phone light off. “Save battery on your phone. Thanks for pulling that off, by the way. Getting the signal reconnected.”

“It’s gone again now,” Ava said, sitting down at the table.

“Doesn’t matter,” Sara said, going to the freezer. “I think everyone got a message or call out. A lot of the passengers probably won’t appreciate it, they’re not used to the mobile signal being ok at best. But it means a lot to us.”

“Thanks,” Ava said, watching as Sara got out the bowls and spoons.

“I told you there wasn’t much left,” she said, serving up the last of the chocolate peanut butter ice-cream. They only got a couple of scoops each, but the ice-cream was rich, and that was enough. “So how did you do it, anyway?” Sara asked.

“I had to call in a lot of favours. Or rather, tell my assistant to call in a lot of favours on my behalf.”

“Huh,” Sara said. “And how did you become Deputy Director of the Office of National Emergency? You’re not nearly old or male enough to fit the stereotype.”

Ava chuckled. “Do you want the short or the longer version?” she asked.

“Might as well go with the longer one,” Sara said, licking her spoon, “We’ve got all night and nothing else to do.”

More thunder rumbled by. Ava waited for it to finish before starting. “I have a degree in Business Administration, which, yes, is every bit as dull as it sounds. After college I got a grad position at the Department of Veterans Affairs. That was a two year position, and when the two years were up, I got a civilian job in military logistics, mostly medical supplies and the like. I moved around there a little bit, worked my way up. Did that for nearly eight years. Then it was time for a change. I was North East Regional Manager at the Office of National Emergency for just under two years, and little over a year ago I got the Deputy Directorship.”

“Impressive,” Sara said.

Ava shrugged, scraping up the last of her ice-cream. “More funding gets cut out from under us every time someone turns around. We can hardly to the bare minimum to help in emergencies, resources are stretched so thin. We’re not a popular department to fund, because no one wants to think about us until something goes terribly wrong, then they complain that we didn’t give enough warning, or get people on the ground soon enough.”

“Do you like working there?”

“It has it’s moments. I’ve been thinking about changing, but I don’t know what else to do,” Ava said. She hadn’t admitted out loud to anyone that she was thinking of leaving the Office of National Emergency. It didn’t matter telling Sara, she told herself. Sara was a just stranger who was willing to listen.

“Any hobbies outside of government stuff?” Sara asked, leaning back in her chair.

“I have my own podcast,” Ava said, grateful that the candlelight meant that Sara couldn’t see her blush.

“Really?” Sara asked, impressed.

“StabCast. It’s about serial killers.”

“Oh great, I invited the serial killer podcaster into my house,” Sara teased.

Ava chuckled. “Do you listen to podcasts?”

“Podcasts, yes. True crime stuff? Hell no, because it gives me the heebie-jeebies.”

“It’s not that bad,” Ava said.

“Do you have a favourite serial killer?” Sara asked.

“Well, yes, but let me explain,” Ava said.

The evening passed as Sara let Ava chatter on about serial killers and her podcast, asking all the right questions to keep Ava talking about one of her favourite topics. Ava soon found herself yawning, as the storm continued to rage outside.

“You can go to bed if you want,” Sara said. “I forgot you’d be jet-lagged. It’s already late on the East Coast.”

“Yeah, I might, actually,” Ava said, standing up. “Tomorrow’s going to be busy. Getting everyone organised to go again.”

“You won’t be leaving tomorrow,” Sara said. “We don’t have nearly enough plane fuel to get everyone off the ground. Word was sent to Sacramento and Star City, and they’re both sending fuel tankers, but you’ll be here another night, at least.”

“Of course,” Ava said, feeling silly for not thinking of that. She put it down to tiredness.

“And you’re welcome to spend it here,” Sara said. “So I hope the bed’s comfortable enough.”

“Like I said earlier,” Ava said. “Tonight it’s only competition is an economy-class seat.”

Sara nodded. “Do you need a toothbrush? I have a spare.”

“Oh, no, I pack that in my carry-on.”

“Of course you do,” Sara said. “I’ll tidy up here. You know where the bathroom is.”

“Thanks,” Ava said and yawned again, taking one of the torches with her to find her toiletries, thinking that this was hardly a bad end to a day that had gone anything but smoothly.


	4. Chapter 4

Ava woke to the sound of soft, rhythmic thuds which caused the floorboards to creek. She sat up and stretched, then climbed out of bed. It wasn’t the most comfortable bed she’d ever slept in, but she had been too tired to care. The bed was warm, and she’d felt safe from the storm, despite being in a stranger’s house on the other side of the country. Ava wandered up the short, narrow hallway to the bathroom. As she passed Sara’s room, she noticed the door was ajar, and caught sight of Sara doing burpees with her back to the door. Ava hurried to the bathroom, trying not the think of Sara’s arms in that tank top.

Soon afterwards, Ava lurked in the kitchen, wondering if she should help herself to some breakfast, or if Sara had something in mind.

“Nice pjs,” Sara said, appearing a moment later, still stretching from side to side.

“Umm, yeah, thanks,” Ava said, trying not to imagine Sara’s muscular arms under the sweatshirt she’d thrown on.

“How’d you sleep? I heard you get up but had to finish my HIIT workout. It’s good to start the day with some George Ezra.”

“Of course. The bed was fine, nice and warm,” Ava said. “Though honestly, I was pretty worn out and probably could have slept on the floor.”

Sara opened the blinds and looked outside. “I wonder how our guests at the school and the Town Hall slept,” she said, looking up and down the street. There was no apparent damage, and just a few branches scattered about, for which she was grateful.

“The Town Hall?” Ava asked, having assumed everyone was at the school.

“The passengers from the first three planes were sent to Lexington,” Sara said, ‘The second two we put in the Town Hall, and the last four in the school. All the flight and cabin crews were put up in hotels or people’s homes, as well as any elderly or pregnant passengers, those with a disability or chronic illness, and those with a child under five. Hopefully this afternoon another couple of bus loads of passengers will be able to go to Lexington. I mean, they’re a town of 15,000 people, we hardly have 1,500.”

“So how come you have the airport?” Ava asked.

“I don’t really know,” Sara said. “It was first set up in the early ‘50s, something to do with the Airforce and the Cold War, I believe, though details are sketchy at best. The runway is at an interesting angle given the prevailing winds, so I believe it was used for take-off and landing training. Sorry I can’t offer much in the way of breakfast with the power still being out. Dry cereal and fruit? I’m a bit suspicious of the milk. They’ve got generators at the school, so you’ll be able to get a coffee there. I’ve got some juice but guarantee it will be cold,” Sara said, opening the fridge. She pulled out a bottle of orange juice.

“That sounds fine,” Ava said, grateful for anything Sara offered. They were soon settled at the table with their bowls of dry corn flakes, a plate of cut-up fruit, and glass of orange juice each.

“The airport here has one of the worst codes though,” Sara said, settling back into the airport topic. Ava had noticed that she wasn’t overly keen on talking about herself, but anything to do with aviation seemed to be of interest. “FKC. Apparently it’s meant to be for Franklin, California, but we all know what it looks like. It’s not as bad as Fukuoka in Japan, though, with FUK.”

Ava chuckled. “Do you know any other bad airport codes?” she asked as she took some banana slices.

“Oh, loads,” Sara smiled. “It’s immature, but pilots always get a good giggle out of a bad airport code or bad or clever waypoint. Helsinki in Finland has the airport code of HEL. It was always funny when you were piloting a flight to HEL. There’s a PEE and a POO. SIK, SEX, BUM.”

“You’ve flown to all those?”

“No,” Sara said, “I mostly flew around Europe. Those are all over the world. I just know they exist.”

“That’s really cool,” Ava said, genuinely impressed.

Sara shrugged and stuffed a spoonful of cereal and fruit in her mouth. “It’s a job.”

“It’s an awesome job.”

“Yeah, it is,” Sara said, unable to stop herself from smiling. “It’s the best job in the world. We need to hurry up and to get back to the school and check that Charlie hasn’t sent all our guests to the principal’s office on detention or fed them to the bears.”

…

Once they finished breakfast, cleaned up, and got dressed and ready, Sara raided the house for anything that could be used at the school. They filled a couple of reusable shopping bags with an unopened box of cornflakes, a couple of new jars of jam, peanut butter and Nutella, half a loaf of regular bread, a whole loaf of fruit bread, a packet of plain flour, half a dozen eggs (“Mona will be making pancakes for sure,” Sara said), a box of tea, a jar of Nescafe, a packet of sugar, dishwashing detergent, a big packet of wet wipes, and all but one of the rolls of toilet paper.

“This is worth a fair amount of money,” Ava said, picking up her bags.

“Eh. People have to eat,” Sara said, juggling the bags she was holding as she opened the front door. They were hit with a blast of cold air. “Wasn’t expecting that,” Sara said, glad she’s braided her hair. “But then again, that’s what you get when you have no internet or TV to check the weather, and don’t even poke your head outside. Do you have a coat?”

“No, not in my carry-on,” Ava said, not having anticipated needing a coat.

Sara put her shopping bags down. “I don’t think I’ll have a coat that will fit you,” she said, returning to her room. “Your arms are too long. What about a vest?”

“That’d would be great,” Ava said.

Sara reappeared, shrugging on a duffle coat over her checked flannel shirt, and handed Ava a puffer vest. “Sorry if it’s a bit short.”

“It’s fine,” Ava said, pulling on the vest and zipping it up. “Thanks.”

“Not a problem,” Sara said.

They ventured out for a second time, chatting about the weather as they made their way to the school.

“Have you brought toilet paper?” Charlie asked, greeting them in the foyer.

“Sure have,” Sara said, handing the bag to Charlie. “Have you been home yet?”

“Nah, pulled an all-nighter!” Charlie said, grinning widely. “Haven’t done that for years!”

“Is she high?” Ava muttered.

Sara shrugged. “Could be. That or someone’s handing out lollies.”

“Lollies?” Ava asked, raising her eyebrows.

“Candy. You know what I mean.”

Ava smiled, and they made their way towards the smell of cooking in the canteen, finding Mona coordinating making breakfast for all the guests.

“Please don’t tell me you’ve been here all night too,” Sara said, entering the canteen, putting down the bags and tossing an apron to Ava.

“Oh, no,” Mona said, “Only since half-past five to get the breakfast ready. I’m a bit afraid to count how many people I need to serve. Is that more eggs and flour? And condiments?”

“And tea and coffee,” said Sara. “Ava’s here to help. I’ve got to pop over to the airport, and I’m making Charlie go home to get some sleep if anyone’s looking for her. I’ll be back in a couple of hours.”

“See you later,” Ava said, tying up the apron, happy to have been given a job to do.

“I’ll be back later,” Sara said. “Hopefully we’ll have power, cable phones and internet or at least mobile reception by then.”

“Hopefully,” Ava said.

Sara left the canteen, hoping that Mona wouldn’t drive Ava completely mad, and went to find Charlie, who was in the gym talking to some of the guests. “Time to go home,” Sara said, once Charlie was free.

“Yeah, sure. What time is it?”

“About half-seven. I’m going to the airport. I’ll walk you home,” Sara said, guiding them out of the gym before they got caught up talking to another guest.

“Do you fancy her?” Charlie asked.

“What?” Sara asked as they stepped out of the school, the cold wind hitting them with a blast. “Ava’s right. You are high.”

“Nah, Mona has a stash of M&Ms in the canteen. I’ve eaten so many I feel a bit ill, to be honest,” Charlie said. “But come on. You can tell me. You fancy Ava. You two sauntered up to the school like some local married couple with your shopping bags filled with necessities for the unlucky folks stuck here. That’s your vest she’s wearing, yeah? You wear that one all the time.”

“I don’t fancy her,” Sara lied badly. She hadn’t thought about how she’d felt towards Ava other than Ava being kind of hot, but now that she’d gotten to know Ava a little bit, and the fact that Charlie mentioning it annoyed her so much… Sara pursed her lips.

“The game is on!” Charlie grinned. “Sara Lance, back in the field!”

“Shut-up,” Sara said, “I don’t even know if she - if she swings my way.”

“She’s definitely gay.”

“You don’t know that,” Sara said, shoving her hands in her pockets. “Maybe she’s taken.”

“You two had a sleepover and you don’t know if she’s got a partner? Shouldn’t that be the first thing you ask? You never got any vibes off her?”

“We mostly talked about serial killers, if you really have to know,” Sara said. “Well, Ava did the talking. She hosts a podcast on serial killers.”

“You hate that sort of stuff,” Charlie said. “Geez, you’re whipped already.”

“Shut-up. I am not,” Sara said.

“What’s she know about you?”

“That I used to fly for BA.”

“Really? That’s it? You didn’t want to elaborate? She didn’t ask?”

“She literally dropped out of the sky onto our doorstep yesterday. I’m not suffocating someone with my life story the day I meet them. And I’m not turning having a houseguest into a pity party.”

“You like her so much,” Charlie teased.

“Even if I did, which I don’t - ”

“You do.”

“We don’t know she’s gay, and frankly, it’s rude to assume.”

“Zari didn’t know she was gay when we first met, but now she’s definitely - ”

“Not wanting her girlfriend to overshare their sex life,” Sara finished, cutting Charlie off.

Charlie laughed. “Come on, Cap. You’re allowed to fancy people. It’s not like it matters. She’s leaving again tomorrow anyway. Who’d ever make a return trip to Franklin?” They stopped outside Charlie and Zari’s house. “Just hook up with her, and - ”

Sara smacked Charlie playfully on the arm. “I am not hooking up with her. Go and get some sleep.”

“I’ll be dreaming about Z’s chocolate brown eyes. You can daydream about Ava’s icy blues.”

“Promise me you won’t make this weird.”

“I promise,” Charlie said sincerely, then smirked. “It’s just been a while since I’ve seen you get that look.”

“What look?”

“That little smirk you do when you’re on the prowl. I’ll see you this afternoon!”

Sara shook her head and gave Charlie a wave as she disappeared inside the house. Sara continued on to the airport, returning her hands to her pockets. It had been a long time since she’d had a partner of either sex, and longer still since she’d been in a relationship. Sure, Ava was pretty and smart and smelt nice and had good hair. She seemed loyal and passionate. The serial killer thing was a bit odd, plus she was some government stiff, but - Sara took a deep breath. She wasn’t doing this. Ava was her guest, and if everything went according to plan, tomorrow she would leave Franklin and that would be that.

…

Ava was content working in the canteen with Mona and a couple of other locals, and everyone was relieved when the power came back on about half an hour after Ava arrived at the school, meaning they could turn off the generators, and turn on all the lights they needed to and cooking apparatuses in the canteen. She was sure they were doing a loaves-and-fishes style miracle, making enough breakfast the hundreds of guests, but there were few complaints, and all the guests seemed to appreciate how hard the locals were working to accomodate them, given the circumstances. As the morning wore on, the sky cleared, and Ava spotted middle-schoolers wearing Scout scarves handing out green sheets of paper.

“Here you go,” one of them said to Ava, handing her a sheet while she popped into the kitchen to raid Mona’s candy stash.

“Those are for the helpers only, Ash O’Shea.”

“I am helping, Miss Wu. I’m handing out town maps to everyone so they can go for a walk. It was Mr Palmer’s idea, and Mrs Palmer ran them off in the staffroom and gave them to us.”

Mona looked at the sheet in Ava’s hand. “Tell Mr and Mrs Palmer this was a really good idea. It would be good for our guests to see a bit of our lovely town.”

“Yep, thanks of the snakes,” Ash said, leaving the canteen with a fist-full of candy snakes.

Mona smiled and shook her head.

“Do a lot of the children here do Scouts?” Ava asked, scanning over the paper in her hands. It was a slightly off-centre photocopied map of the township of Franklin, highlighting to Ava just how small it was. Ava turned it around in her hands. The school was circled with the words “You Are Here” written next to it. There were a few walking and hiking tracks printed on it as well, with their distance and approximate time given.

“It’s the only out-of-school activity offered in Franklin, so pretty much all the kids take part,” Mona explained. “There are other sports and activities offered in Lexington. Technically, I’m Troop Leader for the girls, and Ray Palmer, Nora’s husband, is the Troop Leader for the boys, but we usually have the kids combined. Nora helps out a lot too. Most people do. Sara lets the kids in the airport hangers to wash the light aircraft and do other little jobs. They all get their aviation badges very quickly.”

“Huh,” Ava said, half inspecting the map, half imagining Sara with a bunch of kids at the airfield, making sure they did whatever they had to do to get their badges. It seemed that in a town this small, every pitched in any way they could.

“Hey, are you Ava?” a woman asked, sticking her head into the canteen. “Ooh, that smells really good, Mona.”

“Thanks, Zari,” Mona grinned.

“Hi. Yes, Ava Sharpe,” Ava said, holding out her hand.

“Good. I’m Zari,” Zari said, shaking Ava’s hand. “Sara sent me. We’re going to need help marshalling some of the guests. We just got word from Lexington, and they’re prepared to take on two more plane-loads of people, so that’ll be everyone from the fourth and fifth planes, A.K.A. the ones staying in the Town Hall. The road is almost cleared, so the buses should be here in the next hour or so. Don’t worry, Mona, they’re bringing more food help with those who are staying here.”

“Oh, thank goodness,” Mona said.

“What do you need me to do?” Ava asked.

“Swap that apron for a high-vis vest,” Zari said.

Ava folded up and placed the map in her pocket, and untied the apron. “Some people won’t like this,” she said. “With only some of them going to Lexington.”

“We could be handing out bricks of gold bullion and some people wouldn’t like it,” Zari said. “Come on, today is far from over.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I nearly didn't get this chapter up today. There was a huge storm last night and we didn't have power for 24 hours, but here it is! Charlie talks a lot.

It was almost five o’clock when Sara leant against her broom and inspected the Town Hall. “Well, I think that about does it,” she said. The last bus taking the passengers who had been placed the Town Hall to Lexington had left just after four. Some passengers staying in the school had been annoyed that they had to stay at the school in Franklin again, and had expressed their frustration in a very plain, verbal manner, but it was nothing Sara and Charlie hadn’t dealt with before.

“Two trestle tables full of things they’ve left behind though,” Charlie said. They’d collected jumpers, coats, shoes, sunglasses, three backpacks, caps, beanies, umbrellas, a handbag, phone chargers, a phone, a passport, half a dozen plane tickets, and a set of dentures.

“Eh, they can collect them tomorrow. We’ll take everything over to the airport and can set it all up in the morning. Almost time to call it a day, I think.”

“You must be tired if you’re making healthy life choices,” Charlie teased. “But never mind, because tomorrow is going to be chaos!” she exclaimed gleefully.

“It’ll be fine,” Sara said, taking the broom back to the store room. She was too tired to think about tomorrow.

“100% there will be people trying to board the wrong plane,” Charlie said, following after her, dragging the vacuum cleaner.

“There’s only nine options.”

“As someone who worked at Heathrow for nearly five years, trust me, people are going to try to board the wrong plane to the wrong destination, and then fight with you when you tell them this is not their plane, their gate, or even their airline.”

“We’ll have to borrow some megaphones from the school.”

“Total chaos. I can see it already.”

“You love it already.”

Charlie grinned. “The amateurs stranded here ain’t got nothing on the professional lunatics that pass through Heathrow, I tell you what. How many of ‘em are going to try and mansplain boarding procedures to me, do you reckon?”

“27,” Sara answered. “Three on each flight. Ava! Hi.”

“Hi,” Ava said, entering the Town Hall. Throughout the afternoon she’d been back and forwards between marshalling passengers with Zari, and helping out preparing food for dinner in the canteen with Mona.

“Hi,” Sara said. “I think we’re about done. Charlie’s sent the kids home, the dumpster is full, and I dread even thinking about the state that the school is going to be in this time tomorrow once everyone’s gone home.”

Ava looked around the spotless Town Hall, impressed that Sara, Charlie, a few of the students and a couple of other locals had gotten it completely cleaned up in little over an hour.

“I’ll go find some bags or boxes over in the school to put all the lost and found items in,” Charlie said.

“Take Ava with you,” Sara said, looking at her phone. “Message from Zari; I need to go back to the airport for a bit. A couple more fuel trucks arrived, and don’t seem to have ever seen a provincial airport quite like ours. I’ll see you later,” she said, sending a quick message back to Zari and pocketing her phone.

“No worries,” said Charlie. “Come on, Ava, let’s go find some receptacles for all this junk.”

Ava followed Charlie out of the Town Hall, glancing back at Sara who gave her an encouraging smile. Though she was getting tired and hungry, the smile filled her with a new lease of energy.

“Who leaves their shoes behind?” Ava asked.

“There’s always someone,” Charlie said. “On more than one occasion, we found prosthetic limbs left at Heathrow. You’re right that it’s weird enough when people leave without their shoes, or leave their bags on the carousel, but a whole limb?”

“What exactly did you do?” Ava asked, falling into step with Charlie as they walked back to the school.

“I was ground crew for British Airways for about five years. Baggage check-in, ticketing, gate checks, all of that. I read classics at Royal Holloway, University of London. It’s basically next to Heathrow. One of the poshest corners of the country too. Figured I should get a job, bit of money on the side, you know? I applied at all the usual places, Tesco’s, M&S, Subway. I tried at a couple of hotels, TfL, some of the theatres, and BA. Somehow, it was British Airways who decided that they’d employ me.”

“That’s great,” Ava said, though she realised that Charlie needed little prompting to keep talking.

“It was pretty good. I could be really flexible around my classes too, doing the first or last shifts, weekends, half-term, holidays. I was happy to do all the shifts everyone else hated. Plenty of people thought studying classics was a waste of time, but I loved it, and I totally showed them.”

“What do you mean?” Ava asked.

Charlie grinned. “There’d been one of them inter-faith meetings in London, and we had two old Catholic Cardinals returning to Rome. Long story short, they were having some issues with their flight or baggage, can’t remember which one now. They both spoke a load of languages, but neither was particularly fluent in English, and because it was a graveyard flight, we didn’t have a huge multi-lingual staff on. Turns out, however, they were both fluent in Latin. They were so old they were probably playmates with Julius Cesar himself, but that’s beside the point. Anyway, I personally escorted these two ancient Cardinals all the way to their seats on the plane.”

“That’s lovely,” Ava said.

“Yeah, well a few weeks later, a message got passed down to me from head office, typed in Latin too. It was me old mates the Cardinals saying next time I was in Rome, they’d give me a backstage tour round the Vatican. Now, I’m not particularly religious, but that’s not something you pass up on. A few months later I took them up on that offer. Totally unforgettable. They had a lot of great restaurant recommendations around Rome too.”

Ava laughed, not entirely sure how much of Charlie’s story to believe, but enjoying it immensely regardless. They entered the school, Charlie leading the way to the canteen, where they found a number of large empty boxes, and Sara’s reusable shopping bags.

“So, you met Sara when working for British Airways?” Ava asked, as they made their way back to the Town Hall.

“Yeah, I’d known of her for a little bit before we became friends. We went through a period where my shifts ended at the same time as she returned from her flight, and we’d catch the Tube back into London together, since we both lived centrally. I probably should have moved out to Surrey, but being born and raised in London, it’s hard to leave. Anyway, after that, I was kinda stuck with Sara as a pal, I guess,” Charlie said.

Ava nodded, adjusting how she was carrying the empty boxes. “And you decided to move to Franklin, California?”

“Ha, yeah,” Charlie said. “Once I finished my classics degree, I did my Education MA at UCL, and once I finished that, I did supply teaching for a bit while still working for BA as well. I finally got a maternity leave contract, then by time that was finished, Sara had moved back here and I thought, what the hell? I could get a visa and a teaching contract. Thought it might be a bit of fun for a couple of years. Wasn’t expecting to find Z out here of course. I made it clear straight away that as soon as my visa was up I’d being going back to the UK, and she said ‘great. How do I get a work visa for there, then?’. Gideon’ll be able to hook her up with all the paperwork and a job when the time comes, no worries.”

“Gideon?”

“Oh, friend of ours. She knows everything and everyone,” Charlie pushed the door to the Town Hall open with her foot. “What about you? You got a girlfriend?”

“What? No, I, ah - I’m - umm, I’m single,” Ava stammered, totally blindsided by Charlie’s question.

“Ok,” Charlie said, placing the bags on the table. “Oh, I got another story,” she said without missing a beat. “One time Princess Anne was going on tour somewhere. Can’t remember where. I think I’ve met most of the Royal Family; they fly all the time. Princess Alexandra was lovely when I met her. It’s great to do the VIP thing. Anyway, back to Princess Anne. So, this one time…”

Ava pushed some of the items aside to place the boxes down and began packing them as she half-listened to Charlie prattle on. It was none of her business, of course, but she couldn’t help but notice that there seemed to be a gap in Sara’s story, between being a pilot for a major international airline and ending up in the Middle of Nowhere, California. Ava filled one box, pushed it aside and moved onto filling the next, as she and Charlie made light work of packing up the lost and found items.

“Ready to roll?” Charlie said, picking up the bags once the tables were cleared.

“Sure,” Ava said, balancing the boxes one on top of the other.

“That’s not too heavy?”

“No, it’s mostly just clothes,” Ava said, following Charlie out of the Hall again. “Did you meet many celebrities working at Heathrow?” she asked, deciding it was better to keep Charlie talking about her own adventures than to have her start asking Ava questions.

“Oh, all the time,” Charlie said, “Celebs, sportspeople, politicians, both local and foreign. Sometimes we knew they were coming, and sometimes you’d be checking them in and then realise who it was in front of you. I had the biggest fan-girl moment when I met Jessica Ennis. It was so hard to stay professional and not go on about how brilliant it was on Super Saturday when it got to the point that she couldn’t lose. I wasn’t at the stadium, but even from home you could feel the atmosphere, and there she was, years later, going on holidays somewhere with the family.”

Ava nodded, not knowing who or what Charlie was talking about, but deciding not to admit that.

“Sometimes you’d see people who’d been on Love Island, or like, little roles on Corrie or East Enders, and you know they’re going to Ibiza to get hammered, and sure enough a few hours later on their Insta is pictures of them at some bar on the beach, already half-sloshed.”

“Yeah,” Ava said, adjusting how she was carrying the boxes as they crossed the road to the airport. The automatic doors slid open as they approached.

“I think we’re going to have bring some tables over too,” Charlie said, dumping the bags against the wall.

Ava placed the boxes beside the bags and stretched her arms.

“Let’s go find Sara,” Charlie said. “See where she wants us to put the tables before we lug ‘em over. Then it’ll be time for you to go back to Sara’s get some rest and something to eat.”

“You think it’ll be busy tomorrow?”

“Chaos,” Charlie said, leading the way out onto the grassy airfield where a number of fuel trucks were parked behind the planes. “At least you’ll get a sit-down once you board. We have to get the town back in order. Luckily we’ve got two days to get the school cleaned up before Monday. The kids have never been so willing to show up at school as they have the past day and a half, I can assure you. Kids are funny like that, happy to help, but hardly willing to work. Oi, Sara!”

Sara turned an gave them a wave, before shaking hands with the truck driver she was talking too, and heading over to Ava and Charlie.

“You ready to go home?” Charlie asked.

“I think so,” Sara said. “Is that all the lost and found stuff?”

“Yeah,” Charlie said. “We’ll need to get some tables from the school.”

“That’s fine, we can do that in the morning. You go, I’ll lock up here and then Ava and I will go home. Zari was around, but she left a few minutes ago.”

“I’ll swing by the house, lock up the Town Hall, then go to the school. Probably should help Mona out with the dinner.”

“Thanks, Charlie. Don’t stay up all night.”

“Nah, not doing that again. See you in the morning, Cap.”

“See you, Charlie,” Sara said, turning back to Ava.

“Charlie talks a lot,” Ava said.

“Oh, yeah, if you let her get going.”

“Are her stories real?”

“Did she tell you about the time she met Robbie Williams?”

“No.”

“The English Cricket team after they returned from winning the Ashes?”

“I don’t know what that means, but no.”

Sara chuckled. “The stories are real. I can tell you about some of the people I’ve flown later on. Wanna get a photo standing underneath your plane?” she asked.

“Really?”

“Why not? My airport, my rules.”

“Ok,” Ava smiled, finding Sara’s enthusiasm infectious.

“Then we’ll lock up and go home. I promise that I can make a really good Indian curry from scratch, but I think tonight we’ll just have curry from the jar, if that’s ok.”

“Fine by me,” Ava said as they walked towards her plane.

“Technically, you should be in a high-vis vest,” Sara said, tugging at the vest she was wearing over her coat, “But there’s no one around, and who are they going to complain to? Me?”

Ava chuckled. “I’ve never walked around planes like this,” she said. “They’re massive.”

“I used to fly 787s,” Sara said, “They’re 20 meters longer. These planes are tiny by comparison.”

“Meters?”

“Aviation uses the metric system,” Sara said. “This was your plane, I think. Give me your phone.”

Ava handed her phone over to Sara. “So, I just… stand here?”

“Yep! Perfect,” Sara grinned, taking a few steps back to try and get Ava and the plane in the shot. “Let me get a panorama with a few of these other planes. There we go.” Sara walked back to Ava and handed her her phone.

“Thanks. My dad will love those,” Ava said.

“No problem,” Sara said. “Ok, let’s go home and get some dinner. I’ve been on my feet all day and can’t wait to get my shoes off.”


	6. Chapter 6

“You don’t mind if I put my feet up on the chair?” Sara asked. They’d finished their dinner and done the washing up, then returned to the kitchen table, the living room being occupied by the fold-out couch bed. “Usually I’d curl up on the couch, but it’s been seconded,” she smiled.

“Your house, your rules,” Ava said, sipping the exceptionally good whisky Sara had brought out in leu of dessert. They’d both showered early again, feeling the need to freshen up after the busy day, and so were sitting about in their pyjamas. “It’s going to be a strange day tomorrow.”

“Why’s that?”

“Finally getting to San Fran,” Ava said.

“Your plane might not go there.”

“What do you mean?”

“You’ve had a forty-eight hour delay. The plane is as likely to return to DC as it is to take you San Fran. It’s more important for the airline to get the plane and crew where they need them, rather than the passengers.”

“Huh. I hadn’t thought of that.”

“Half the passengers will be furious, and the other half won’t care.”

“I fall into the later category,” Ava said. “I think people like Seatbelt Guy will be in the former.”

“Seatbelt Guy?”

“Yeah. You know that guy on every flight who needs a personal invitation to put his seatbelt on? He was sitting near me.”

“Oh, _that_ guy,” Sara said. “Yeah, I know that guy. He’s on every flight, often accompanied by his close friends Personal Invitation Needed To Put His Tray Table And/Or Seat-back Up, No You Can’t Use Your Laptop During Take Off And/Or Landing, and That Massive Piece Of Luggage Really Does Have To Go In The Overhead Locker.”

Ava laughed. “Sounds like you’ve had bingo!”

“Unfortunately they’re all frequent flyers,” Sara chuckled, swirling her whisky. “Charlie reckons ground crew could spot them from a mile off. It’s just a shame they couldn’t put a special stamp on their tickets so the cabin crew knew who to expect to be a wanker. I punched a guy in the Terminal once. For some reason he thought it was ok to smack my ass after the flight as a ‘thank-you’.”

“Oh, gross,” said Ava, pulling a face.

“I am the first person to admit that my ass looked good in those uniform skirts, but I will not tolerate that kind of crap. He then got to have a long discussion with airport security, who are well known to be amongst the friendliest and most charming people,” Sara joked. “I spoke to the cabin crew, and they said he’d hit on about three of them as well. And it wasn’t even a very long flight.”

“You and Charlie have so many terrific stories,” Ava said, trying to think of any from her work that were worth recounting. The only ones that were were under some sort of Secrecy Act, and the details she would be able to tell Sara were so limited that they negated telling the story at all.

“Perks of the job,” Sara said, swallowing her drink and pouring herself another. “Top up?”

“Please,” Ava said. “This is really very nice whisky.”

“You’ve got Gideon to thank for that,” Sara said, putting the stopper back in the bottle. “Back in the day I’d drink anything with alcoholic content. She helped to refine my tastes to the point where I now don’t drink that much because everything I like is too damned expensive. Maybe that was her plan all along.”

“Nothing wrong with expensive taste.”

Sara smiled. “I think you and Gideon would get along.”

“Who is she?” Ava asked. “Charlie mentioned her earlier as well.”

“She’s a BA pilot too,” Sara said, “But she was RAF when she was younger. She flies VVIPs on the charter planes. Her family’s been involved in aviation forever, and she had a pilot’s licence before a car licence. She knows everyone and everything and has implacable taste. And by everyone, I mean _everyone._ Her family has old money and older connections, so Gideon knows a lot of people in figuratively high places.”

Ava raised an eyebrow.

“Because we’re pilots?” Sara explained, “So we’re often in literally high places?”

“I get the bad joke,” Ava said. “But when you say people in high places…?”

“The Foreign Office, the Military, politicians and people in business actually worth knowing,” Sara said. “Gideon’s got three degrees, aeronautical engineering, business communications, and history, as you do. She does a lot of good things for the female pilots and other female staff too. If you want an arrogant pain-in-the-ass however, look no further than Captain Rip Hunter.”

“Who?” Ava asked, wondering if everyone in aviation could tell stories the way Sara and Charlie seemed to, but she was happy to listen. Sara was so animated and enthusiastic that Ava could listen to her all night.

“He’s another BA pilot. He flew A320s when I first started, and I seemed to be stuck as his First Officer the whole damned time, which was especially annoying as there were other perfectly lovely captains I’d fly with once and never see again. He flies A380s now, but even those would hardly be big enough to hold his massive ego.”

Ava sipped at her drink and smiled when she met Sara’s eyes before quickly looking away. One question circled her mind, over and over, but she had a feeling Sara would somehow manage to avoid giving a straight answer to it. _Why did you stop flying?_

“And what about you?” Sara asked, adjusting how she was sitting. “Annoying, egotistical co-workers? Awesome ones, like Charlie? Mentors like Gideon?”

“Well, there’s my assistant Gary,” Ava said, and launched into a story about Gary’s various embarrassing and infuriating exploits. Somehow that led into travel adventures. Sara had seemingly been everywhere, whereas Ava had been on a five-day foodie tour in Mexico the previous year, and to Barbados a few years ago to celebrate her parent’s 30th wedding anniversary.

“But back in the day, however many years ago it was now,” Ava said, as the discussion moved on to her parents, and she felt happy and confident with the amount of quality liquor inside of her, “My mom was Fresno’s biggest allied supporter of marriage equality. She was ringing the senator and the mayor’s office, writing letters and emails and whatever. Her line was that she deserved to see her only child marry the person they loved the same as any other parent.”

“Oh,” Sara said, taking a long sip of her drip to hide her smile and forcing herself to avoid eye contact with Ava. “Some parents can be pretty great like that.”

“Yeah,” Ava said. “She’s one of the good ones. Both my parents are. They’re so embarrassing, but the mean well.”

“Embarrassing is when your dad is the police chief,” Sara said. “What makes your’s so bad?”

“Amateur theatre,” Ava said, screwing up her nose.

Sara laughed. “What’s wrong with that?”

“Because they still take part! And they’re semi-retired.”

“Plenty of theatre parts for older people,” Sara said.

“Plus my dad is an accountant, and my mom works in the library,” Ava said. “So their jobs are dull to the point of being embarrassing. The amateur theatre thing was fine when I was little, I guess. I was in local productions of _Annie_ and _Oliver_ and even _The Sound Of Music_. I wanted to be Brigitta, but I got the part of Louisa because even though I was younger, I was nearly a whole head taller than the girl who got the part of Brigitta.”

“So you can sing?” Sara asked.

“A bit,” Ava shrugged. “I did choir all through school. I danced too; jazz, tap and ballet. I did competitions and everything.”

“Me too!” Sara grinned. “But not competitions. Though I dropped ballet by middle school and took up hip-hop. Do you still dance?”

“No,” Ava said. “I mean, if I was forced to, there’s a couple of tap routines I reckon I could almost pull off, but on the whole? No. What about you?”

“I did until a few years ago,” Sara said, taking a quick sip of her drink. “Not many opportunities in Franklin,” she muttered.

Ava nodded and yawned despite herself.

“I know it’s early, but you can go to bed if you like,” Sara said, finishing off her drink.

“My body is still operating on East Coast time.”

“Well, you might be back there this time tomorrow,” Sara said, standing up. “Or stuck in San Fran.”

“Sorry for taking over your living room.”

“It’s fine,” Sara said, collecting the empty glasses and putting them in the sink. “Good to get some use out of the house. I - it’s fine, Ava. Really. I’ve enjoyed having you here.”

“I’ve enjoyed it too,” Ava said, standing up.

Sara picked up the crystal whisky decanter. “Still plenty of work to be done tomorrow morning.”

“Definitely,” said Ava, suppressing another yawn. Although she was tired, she wanted to sit up talking to Sara all night. She wanted to know everything about her, or at least everything Sara was willing or able to say. “I’ll go clean my teeth.”

“I’ll put this back in my office,” Sara said. They walked down the narrow hallway, Sara opening the door to her office and flicking on the light. Ava caught sight of a large desk, an armchair, and a globe before continuing to the bathroom. As she looked at herself in the mirror while she cleaned her teeth, it dawned on her that she’d told Sara things very few people knew. No one in DC knew about her childhood spent singing and dancing. No one knew her mom was an avid supporter of LGBT+ rights. A lot of people didn’t even now Ava was gay. Yet here she was, telling Sara everything, while Sara seemed to give a very curated account of her own life. Ava sighed and rinsed her mouth out. A few minutes later when she emerged from the bathroom, she noticed that Sara had turned off the lights in the kitchen and living room, leaving on a single lamp beside the couch.

“Have a good sleep,” Sara said.

Ava looked around, spotting Sara sitting at her desk in the study with her MacBook open.

“You too. Don’t stay up all night.”

Sara smiled. “See you in the morning.”

…

When Ava awoke, she couldn’t hear Sara working out or otherwise up and about. She grabbed her phone and checked the time. It was quite early for California, but the time Ava usually woke up at in DC. She decided to check the news, but after only a few seconds of scrolling she closed the news app and put her phone aside. There was no point reading about mass power outages, damage to homes, shops and vehicles and whatever else had occurred the night before in the coastal towns and cities of California. There was nothing she could do about it, and reading about it only made her anxious. She couldn’t help those people, but she could still help out in Franklin, even if she was going home later in the day.

Ava crept to the bathroom, then quietly got dressed and did her hair. She stripped the bedding from the fold-out couch and took it to the laundry basket. Then she packed her bag, triple checking that she had everything, especially those items likely to be left behind. Phone charger, hoodie, no socks fallen behind anything. Toiletries on top, as she’d need them after breakfast. There was still no movement from Sara’s room, so Ava took the time to have a closer look around the living room.

As well as the photo of Sara with presumably her sister and a man who looked vaguely familiar, there was a photo of Sara mid-jump in front of the Pyramids of Giza. Her smile in the photo was so big and genuine that it made Ava smile just seeing it. There was another photo which looked like a stock image, and on closer inspection, Ava determined that it was, and not only that, but it was a picture torn out of a calendar. Ava didn’t recognise the location, but guessed from the architecture that it was somewhere in Germany.

“What do you feel like for breakfast?”

Hearing Sara made Ava jump.

“Oh, umm…”

“There’s a few more option available today compared to yesterday. Toast? Umm, just toast, actually. I can make pancakes, and porridge, but I don’t have any milk,” Sara said. She was wrapped in her plush blue dressing gown, with pink fluffy slippers on her feet. Her hair was a mess and she looked as though she’d rolled straight out of bed.

“Toast is great,” Ava said. “I hope I didn’t wake you.”

“Eh, it’s time to get up. Lots to do. Did you sleep all right?” Sara asked, shuffling over to the cupboard to get out the toaster.

“Fine,” Ava said. “Though to be perfectly honest, I am looking forward to getting back to my own bed. Your shower is definitely better than mine though.”

Sara chuckled. “Well, I’ve never had anyone stay on that couch before, so it’s good to have at least one review.”

“I really can’t thank you enough for letting me stay here,” Ava said. “I mean, compared to the school, even the fold-out couch is five-star luxury.”

“Any time,” Sara said. “Juice, tea or coffee? Or all three, whatever you want.”

Ava smiled. “Coffee would be great.”

“Regular Nescafe, or something fancy and exotic?”

“Umm, do you mind if I try whatever the fancy and exotic option is?” Ava asked.

Sara took a patterned orange tin out of the cupboard. “Have a smell first,” she said, removing the lid.

“Oh, wow. That smells delicious,” Ava said. “I mean, Nescafe would be fine, but whatever that is… if you don’t mind, I’d love some of that, please.”

“Of course,” Sara said, placing the tin down and finding the plunger. “Gideon would approve. She sends me this stuff. I save it for special occasions.”

“Is today a special occasion?” Ava asked.

Sara shrugged, busying herself with making the coffee. “It’s a Saturday. We’re both here. That’s special enough.”


	7. Chapter 7

Charlie had been correct in assuming that it would be chaos at the airport. The small terminal got busier and busier as the buses returned the passengers who had been staying Lexington. Passengers who had been told their plane wouldn’t be leaving until midday were there early in the morning taking up space, and with only one set of air-stairs, they could only board one plane at a time. Sara stood on a table with the flight lists and a megaphone, trying to get passengers onto their planes in a reasonably orderly fashion, with Charlie trouble-shooting and dealing with the thousand questions everyone seemed to have. Ava helped out on the lost-and-found table, as Mona, Nora and others continually brought over items which had been left at the school. Zari was coordinating efforts on the runway, moving around the witches hats to create safe walk spaces for the passengers, while the cabin crews assisted with boarding the passengers.

Somehow, despite the insanity, they got the first plane boarded. Sara stood on the table, looking out the large windows at the runway, watching it take to the sky. Once the first plane was gone, they soon got into a routine, with another plane boarded and departed, and then another, until they were boarding the ninth and final plane. Zari opened the gate, allowing the passengers outside, while Charlie repeated commands to stay within the witches hats and asking them to make an orderly line.

“Well, that’s my flight,” Ava said to Sara as they lurked at the back of the queue. They’d been tidying up the terminal as best they could as the passengers hurried onto the tarmac as if the plane might leave without them.

“That it is,” Sara said. “Last ones in, last ones out.”

Ava nodded. “Thank-you for having me.”

“Thank-you for dropping by,” Sara smiled.

“You probably want this back,” Ava said, unzipping the puffer vest and handing it to Sara. “Thanks for that, I probably would have frozen without it.”

“Any time,” Sara said.

“Oi, Ava!” Charlie called. “You getting on this plane?”

“I better go,” Ava said. “Take care.”

“You too.”

“I - I’m not worried I missed that conference. I’m very glad I met you.”

“Me too,” Sara said. “Find me on Instagram,” she said.

“Ok,” Ava said. “Well, bye.”

“Bye,” Sara said.

Ava waved. Sara caught Charlie’s eye.

“Hey, Ava?” she called.

Ava stopped and turned back. Sara dropped the vest and stepped forward, pulling Ava into a hug. She was very glad when Ava reciprocated without pause.

“Have a good flight.”

“Have a nice day,” Ava said, regretfully letting go and joining the end of the queue.

Sara picked up the vest and stood with Zari, a little distance from the plane, where Charlie was answering the last-minute questions of those still lined up.

“So, what happens next?” Zari asked. “You go to DC, or she comes back here?”

“Not you too,” Sara said, tugging the vest on over her jacket. It was still warm and smelt like Ava.

“You could have asked her out,” Zari said.

“I really couldn’t have,” Sara said, unable to take her eyes off Ava.

“Have you seen the state of the terminal?” Zari said, screwing up her nose, having decided she wasn’t going to get any more gossip out of Sara at the moment.

“That’s nothing, you should see the school. We’re going to be cleaning for days.”

“People are the worst. Is there any food left?”

“Don’t know,” Sara said, watching as Ava climbed the air-stairs. At the top, she turned and waved. Sara grinned and waved back. Ava then disappeared inside. “Not all people are all bad,” she said to Zari, and lifted her earmuffs from around her neck onto her ears as they pulled air-stairs aside and the plane began to taxi away from the terminal.

…

Ava watched as the township of Franklin, and then the surrounding woodland disappeared from sight as the plane ascended and banked hard. They were returning to DC, just as Sara had suspected, though that suited Ava just fine. The sky was perfectly clear and blue, and the ever-shrinking world below looked like something out of a story book, or a drone-shot at the beginning of a film. Ava put her headphones on, and turned on the music on her phone, deciding against the in-flight entertainment.

Ava felt strange. She didn’t want to go home. She didn’t want to go back to the office on Monday. She wanted… Ava didn’t know what she wanted. Or perhaps she did, only she was too afraid to admit it.

There was no in-flight meal, but the cabin crew did have a piece of fruit, a chocolate bar, and a bottle of water to hand out to everyone. Some people, including Seatbelt Guy, complained. Ava wondered where on earth they thought the in-flight meals came from. It had been enough trouble getting fuel out to Franklin. Expecting meals was quite unreasonable.

Ava stared out of the window, watching the whole of the continent pass by. All those people, whose lives hadn’t been interrupted by Hurricane Damian, or Storm Damian or whatever it had been called when it made landfall. All those people who had never heard of Franklin, California, but then again, Ava doubted that she’d heard of their towns either. All those people who had never had coffee made for them by Sara Lance in her blue dressing gown, with bed hair and sparkling eyes.

Ava turned up the volume of her music, trying to blast away the sound of her own thoughts.

…

“I can’t believe that someone boarded their plane without shoes on and I didn’t notice,” Charlie said, holding up a very large pair of sneakers by the laces as she, Zari and Sara tidied up the airport. Everyone else had returned to the school to help with the clean-up efforts there.

“Maybe they had another pair in their luggage?” Zari suggested.

“No one has spare shoes in their carry-on,” Charlie said, placing the shoes into a box with the handful of other items they’d found at the airport. The majority of the lost and found items from the Town Hall had been reclaimed, and Mona had suggested they use social media to try and reunite the remaining items plus anything else they found with their owners.

“Ava had spare shoes in her carry-on,” Sara said, half-heartedly sweeping the floor.

“Really?”

“You were checking out her shoes?”

“I noticed that there were two pairs of shoes in my living room that weren’t mine yesterday evening after she had showered and was going around in socks,” Sara said.

“So’d you ask her out?” Charlie asked.

“What? No,” Sara said, suddenly paying extra attention to the floor in front of her.

“What happened?” Charlie asked, leaning against the table.

“Nothing,” Sara said.

“Ok, I didn’t see a lot of you guys, but you clearly couldn’t take your eyes off her,” Zari said, “So why are you acting weird now?”

Sara sighed. “I told her to look me up on Instagram.”

“Really?” Charlie asked.

“You have Instagram?” Zari asked.

“Yes, but I don’t use it anymore. I don’t know why I said it. I just - it was just a thing to say.”

“Why didn’t you give her your number?”

“Because I panicked, ok?” Sara said. “And if she looks me up, and finds me, she’s going to think I’m extra freakin weird, because she’ll notice how my life just stopped three years ago.”

Charlie pursed her lips. “Maybe she’ll… actually, nah. You’re right. Ava seemed smart. You didn’t hint at anything? She didn’t ask?”

“She didn’t even ask,” Sara sighed, leaning against the broom. “Maybe I’m getting invested over nothing. Surely you ask someone why they used to be a pilot for a major international airline, living in one of the greatest cities in the world and now I’m… here?”

“Maybe she was trying not to pry,” Zari said, standing beside Charlie. “Not everyone is super nosey.”

“Did you find out if she’s gay?” Charlie asked.

“Case in point,” Zari said.

“She said as much in a round about kind of way,” Sara said.

“Ha! I knew it! I told you so, didn’t I, Cap?”

Sara smiled despite herself. “Yes, Charlie. You were right.”

“Bloody knew it,” Charlie grinned.

“Wait, Sara, do you - you really like her,” Zari said.

“I don’t know,” Sara said. “I - it’s been a long time. Maybe I wouldn’t hate seeing where something might go, but I have no way of contacting her. So unless she finds my Instagram, and I remember my log in, well… I dunno, Z.”

“Let’s finish up here, then go get take-out in Lexington, yeah?” Charlie said. “Then we can knock back some beers, alcoholic or otherwise, and celebrate the fact that at long, long last, Sara Lance fancies someone for more than just sex.”

“Oh shut up,” Sara laughed.

“I’m so messaging Gideon,” Charlie said. “And Leo. They can wake up to a happy surprise.”

“I’m going home,” Sara said.

“You’re coming with us to Lexington to find some food we don’t have to cook ourselves,” Zari said, taking the broom from Sara. “We can finish up here tomorrow. It won’t take long. Time to celebrate that we’re here, our guests are gone, and you may or may not be in love with Mary Poppins.”

“Mary Poppins?”

“Blew in on a strong wind, stayed for a few days, helped with the cleaning, made the members of household where she was staying happy again, and then flew away. Sounds like Mary Poppins to me,” Zari said, leaning the broom against the wall and wrapping her arm around Sara’s shoulders.

“You guys are the worst.”

“We’re the best and you love us,” Charlie said. “Where’s the light switches? We’re outta here.”

…

It was late when Ava finally arrived home, and somehow her house felt more empty than before. Quieter, though the traffic sounded louder than ever. Ava took her bags up to her room and unpacked, first the suitcase she’d never even opened, then her carry-on bag, full of creased, worn clothes. Seeing them again in her own home seemed strange, as those these items belonged to a different world, somewhere long ago and far away. A folded piece of paper fell out onto the floor. Ava picked it up and unfolded the map of Franklin, with the school circled and the words _You Are Here_ written on top of what Ava now knew was Sara’s house. She put the map on her bedside table.

Ava put a wash on, had a shower, made a cheese toasties for dinner, and climbed into bed as quickly as she could. She tried tried to go to sleep, but her mind was too full to allow her to drift off. Ava picked up her phone and opened the lock-screen, staring at the Instagram app. After a moment she tapped it, and tried to content herself with mindless scrolling, but she was soon typing into the search bar: _Sara Lance_.

There were numerous accounts with that name and variations of, and Ava realised what a stupid thing to say “find me on Instagram” was when you had no idea what the person’s username was. Ava sighed, ready to give up, when she had an idea. After Sara’s name, she typed _787_ , and smiled at the top result. Sara really was that aviation geek.

Ava scrolled through Sara’s photos, opening them at random.

 _Never get tired of this view. It’s always sunny at 30,000 feet!_ read the caption of the first cockpit picture Ava came across, dated over three years ago. Ava continued scrolling, opening photos in no particular order. She recognised Charlie in a group shot before she noticed Sara under a wide-brimmed hat and aviator sunglasses. Charlie was in a number of the photos, many of them at different pubs in and around London. There were a couple of other people who seemed to pop up a lot too if the tags were anything to go by. There was another pilot called Leo, a friend Ray (Leo’s husband perhaps? There was a photo of Sara from ages ago in a long mauve dress in a changing room with a caption about going groomsmaid dress shopping), and Gideon, who both Sara and Charlie had mentioned.

_#NationalTrust #Sissinghurst #GirlsDayOut with G and C. Probably the gayest gardens in Britain? Very pretty. Great scones in the cafe._

Ava looked through the half-dozen photos of Sara, Charlie and Gideon in one of the most beautiful gardens Ava had ever seen. She couldn’t help but smile at the final photo of Sara, very ungracefully stuffing a scone into her mouth. Ava scrolled back to the top.

Ava noticed that Sara had seemed to post a couple of times a week, detailing her adventures, until they came to an abrupt end. Ava swallowed, afraid she was prying, but Sara had said to look her up, hadn’t she? Ava closed her phone and put it face-down on the bed. Those most recent photos were all clearly on the ground in America. No more pubs or castles or gardens in Britain. No more photos from 30,000 feet. No more foreign cities. Why had Sara come back? Ava picked up her phone again and returned to Sara’s Instagram page.

_Love you too, Laurel! Repost: D_LaurelLance: Home time now after Pre-honeymoon adventures visiting my little sister in her adopted city (yeah, I was here last year, but who can resist coming to London when your sister lives here?!). Couldn’t be prouder. Told Tommy we’re honeymooning in the UK too (he loves the pub scene - he’s as bad as Sara!)._

Ava looked through the four photos that belonged with the caption. Sara was only in the first one along with the woman who had been in the photo in Sara’s living room, confirming she was Sara’s sister. Laurel was also in the other three photos, along with a young man. Ava had the feeling that Sara was behind the camera. Ava flicked back to the photo of Sara with Laurel in St James’ Park, Buckingham Palace in the background. Suddenly, some of the text seemed to jump out at her: _little sister._

Ava felt hot. She looked at the date, swallowed hard and opened the next post, dated a week later, showing the tops of some Victorian buildings and a spotless blue sky.

_Blue sky in London = easy take-off. That sun better still be shining when I get back in 48 hours! At least it’s always sunny at 30,000 feet._

She was being silly, Ava tried to tell herself. She looked back at Sara’s profile. There was only one more image before the three back in America. The photo was of large refillable shampoo and conditioner containers mounted to the shower wall in a hotel bathroom.

_How am I supposed to add these to my collection??? lol. Looking forward to delicious Biryani for dinner with the crew._

Ava looked at the date. She looked at the location tag. She could feel her heart pounding inside her chest. It was just a coincidence, she tried to tell herself. The date and the city… a million people lived in Islamabad. Besides, the person Ava had evacuated had been airforce, hadn’t they? Had they?

Ava tossed her phone aside. Had her brain somehow replaced the world ‘pilot’ with ‘Airforce’? There was no US Military presence in Pakistan. Had she assumed the woman was linked to the Embassy? An attaché, perhaps? Had she wondered at all, or just got on her job? Why would a US citizen pilot flying for a foreign commercial airline need an emergency medical evacuation? Ava picked up her phone. Should she Google the date and city? Should she send Sara a DM? _Hi, did something really awful happen to you in Islamabad three years ago? Because I think I was the one who arranged your transport out of there._ As if she could ever write that.

“I want to go home,” Ava heard herself mutter, which made no sense of course, because she was at home. Ava held her phone without looking at it and leant back against the pillows. “What the hell have you done to me, Sara Lance?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just because Ava's back in DC, doesn't mean the story is close to being over!
> 
> Thanks for all the kudos and comments, they mean a lot :)


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank-you everyone for the response on the previous chapter. Time to settle into the status quo of Avalance living on seperate sides of the continent for a few chapters while they figure their burgeoning relationship out.

On Monday morning Ava stared at her reflection in the mirror and sighed. Her hair was tied in the usual neat low bun, with not a strand out of place. Her crisp white shirt was perfectly pressed, and her tailored blazer looked at smart as ever. She wore just enough make-up to look finished, but not so much as to draw attention. And yet the whole thing, this look which she had sported since beginning government work over a decade ago, felt wrong.

The self-appointed uniform felt more like a mask, or armour. A uniform was like what Sara wore, the polar fleece jacket with the airport name and logo embroidered on it. What Ava was wearing made sure no one got too close to her; that no one saw the real her. It also made sure that no element of her work touched her. That had worked for years, until the day it hadn’t. And now…

Ava had spent a good portion of Sunday sending messages with Sara. She had been so nervous after sending the first message, her stomach had been in knots while she’d waited to see if Sara replied. After that first exchange, every time her phone pinged, Ava’s heart had skipped a beat. They spoke of nothing consequential; the weather, Ava’s flight back to DC, the clean-up efforts in Franklin. There was no message from Sara as yet this morning, but it was still the small hours on the west coast.

Ava took a deep breath. She was fine. Everything would be fine. She had a new friend, that was all. Ava scoffed at her own ridiculousness. She’d woken up during the night, and the only thing she’d been able to think of was Sara and if there was any possible way of politely bringing up why Sara had stopped flying and confirming if she was Ava’s last evacuee.

Ava looked at her watch. Time to go. She’d missed the conference, so she might as well be early to work.

Twenty minutes later, Ava arrived at the uninspiring grey concrete building which housed the Office of National Emergency, as well as a couple of other government agencies. Ava took a deep breath, raised her chin and strode inside. She waited for the lift, then went up to the third floor.

“Ava! Ava, Ava, Ava!” Gary called as he ran down the corridor and flung his arms around Ava as she stepped out of the lift.

“Good morning, Gary,” Ava said stiffly, her arms pinned to her side. Somehow it had slipped Ava’s mind that Gary always got to the office stupidly early, and that he would have been watching out the window for her to arrive.

“Oh my goodness, were you ok out where you were stranded?” Gary asked, letting go of Ava.

Ava stepped aside out of arm’s reach to make sure Gary couldn’t hug her again. She tried not to make it look obvious as she pulled her jacket down to straighten it up. At least Gary hadn’t messed up her hair. Ava swallowed.

“Ava?’ Gary asked expectantly.

Ava knew what he wanted: some tragic story of being stranded in the middle of nowhere with a bunch of incompetent strangers in which she ended up being the hero. But that wasn’t the case. It wasn’t bad. It was better than the conference. Much better. Ava noticed she was picking at her fingers and shoved her hands in her pockets instead. She looked at Gary, unable to give the answer he wanted, but unable to tell him the truth either. Ava hadn’t just felt ok, she’d felt so much better. As though she really mattered. She’d had purpose. She’d found more friends in two days that she had in DC in over a decade.

“It was good,” Ava said, forcing a smile.

“Because we were so worried,” Gary said, “You know what country folk can be like. And country towns. No amenities, no phone reception, the people wear checked shirts all the time. It’s just not for city folk like us. Plus there was the storm and - ”

“It was fine, Gary,” Ava said, in a tone that ended the conversation. She felt her phone vibrate in her pocket, and she wanted desperately to check if it was Sara replying to her good morning message. She felt like a teenager, desperate to be noticed and validated by some girl, which was ridiculous because she was Deputy Director of the Office of National Emergency. She knew her worth. Sara was a former pilot and manager of a municipal airport. She didn’t need Ava and Ava didn’t need Sara or anyone.

“Ava Sharpe!” called a friendly voice.

Ava relaxed slightly at the voice and turned around. “Nate Heywood.”

“We’re getting a coffee,” Nate said. He worked for the Department of Conservation and Preservation, heading the Historical Works and Preservation team. If Ava thought her department was under-funded, Nate trying to get so much as a dime to protect the nation’s historical buildings and monuments was a whole other ball game.

“Oh, I’m fine. I had a coffee at home,” Ava said, though her usual coffee hadn’t been nearly as strong or as flavourful as the cup Sara had made on Saturday morning.

“That wasn’t a question.” Nate smiled.

“You’re not my boss,” Ava said.

Nate chuckled. “No, but my dad kinda is. Come on, tell me all about it. Did you meet my man Ray?”

“Who?”

“Ray Palmer?”

“You know Ray Palmer?”

“Uh, well, I’d hope so, since I was the best man at his wedding a couple of years ago,” Nate said, pushing the button for the lift.

“You’re kidding?” Ava said, genuinely surprised.

“Nope,” Nate grinned.

“Ok, let’s go get a coffee,” Ava said. “Gary, if anyone’s looking for me, I’ll be in my office by ten. I want a full debrief of the storm or hurricane or whatever it ended up being called.”

“Yes, Deputy Director Sharpe,” Gary said, looking determined.

The lift pinged and the doors opened. Ava and Nate stepped inside.

“I don’t think I actually met Ray,” Ava said. “Someone may have pointed him out, though. I did meet Nora. She is lovely.”

“Nora’s great,” Nate said. “Ray’s one lucky guy to have a wife like her. What was Franklin like?”

Ava felt her phone vibrate again, and resisted the urge to look at it. She gave Nate a brief recount of her time in Franklin as they walked to the coffee stall, trying not to talk exclusively about Sara, though noticing how predominately she featured in the narrative.

“So all things considered, it wasn’t terrible?” Nate asked as they took a seat on their usual park bench.

“Pretty much the opposite,” Ava replied, sipping at her coffee. “Hey Nate,” she began, momentarily considering telling Nate everything about Sara, including how she felt, the mysterious gap in Sara’s story, and how she might incidentally have some idea as to what happened. She thought about asking his advice on broaching the subject with Sara, as well as about long-distance relationships and about relationships in general, but she chickened out. “So, how do you know Ray and Nora Palmer?” Ava asked instead, half-listening to Nate’s long-winded explanation, all the while wishing she could check the messages on her phone.

…

“Right, what’s going on?” Charlie asked, letting herself into Sara’s house with Zari right behind her.

“Nothing, I’m fine,” Sara said flatly. She’d woken up feeling stiff and sore, and none of the usual quick-fix remedies had helped.

“And I’m straight,” Charlie said sarcastically. “Come on, Cap. You’re curled up on the couch with a blanket and an empty bowl of… whatever was in that bowl. What’s going on?”

Sara sighed as Charlie and Zari plopped down on the couch beside her. “I’ve been messaging Ava.”

“So she found you in Instagram?” Zari asked. “Isn’t that a good thing?”

“Yeah,” Sara said, unable to hide a smile. Every message from Ava was like a rush of dopamine, giving her a moment of joy in which she could forget about everything else. “We were messaging almost all day yesterday. It’s been a bit quieter today, because she’s working.”

“Unlike you, who didn’t come to the airport,” Zari said, raising her eyebrows.

“I’ve been doing admin from home,” Sara said, adjusting how she was sitting but unable to find a comfortable position. “I processed the pays.”

“Good,” Zari said.

“For goodness sake, Sara,” Charlie said, standing up again. “What d’ya need? Anti-inflammatories, pain-killers or both?”

“I’m fine,” Sara repeated, though Charlie and Zari could both see through the lie, and though she’d never admit it to them, Sara was grateful for it.

“Well, ya not, and you have a cupboard full of meds for this very reason. You were on your feet for days, and don’t think I didn’t notice you limping yesterday when you thought no one was watching. You’re allowed to take the damned medication when you need it. That’s what it’s for,” Charlie called as she entered the bathroom and opened the cupboard. “Which ones?”

“I did take aspirin,” Sara said a little pathetically.

“Well it didn’t work, did it?” Charlie said. “Stronger anti-inflammatories or pain-killers?”

“Anti-inflammatories,” Sara sighed, unable to put up any more of a fight. Charlie returned a moment later with a glass of water and the medication, which Sara swallowed without further comment. Charlie took the glass and placed it on the coffee table beside the empty bowl and sat back down between Sara and Zari.

“Why don’t you take it when you need it?” Charlie muttered, wrapping her arm around Sara.

“Because I haven’t needed it for ages,” Sara replied, resting her head against Charlie’s shoulder.

“Probably should’ve checked it was still in date then,” Charlie replied.

Sara smirked.

“Are you in any pain?” Charlie asked.

“No, just discomfort.”

“So sitting like that is - ”

“Who died and made you my specialist?” Sara muttered.

Charlie chuckled. “So, you and Ava, hey?”

“You’re changing the subject.”

“Don’t you want me to?” Charlie asked. “Besides, this one makes you smile.”

Sara pursed her lips to try and hide a smile to little effect. “How do I tell her all this?”

“She still hasn’t asked?” Zari asked.

“Even though she must’ve looked through your Insta and seen that you used to post all the time and have posted, what, three things in the past three years?”

Sara shook her head. “I think she’s just… she’s trying not to pry. I think. I don’t know. I don’t even know what I’d say if she did ask.”

“Tell her the simple version.”

“The simple version is a part-truth at best,” Sara said. “It doesn’t feel fair. It needs to be all or nothing.”

“Look, I didn’t dump all the crap with my crazy-arse sisters and family on Z on our first date,” Charlie said. “No one needs to know immediately that the person they’re dating has one sister in prison for conduct endangering life, and the other she doesn’t talk to because she’s an evil manipulative bitch.”

“No, you waited until the second to come out with all of that,” Zari said.

“You don’t have to tell Ava straight away. Everyone’s got baggage, yeah?” Charlie said to Sara while giving Zari a poke with her spare hand. Zari smiled and leant into Charlie.

“She’ll understand, Sara,” Zari said. “If you want this to go somewhere, yes, you’ll have to tell her. But it’s probably more of a face-to-face thing. Tell her the simple version if she asks, but say there is a long version that’s more of an in-person conversation. I know you hate being vulnerable, ever, even with us but especially with comparative strangers, but if you think Ava’s worth it, it’s what you’re going to have to do.”

Sara sighed. “I hate you both.”

“You love us both,” Charlie said. “You feeling better already? You look more relaxed.”

“Maybe,” Sara pouted.

Charlie grinned.

“What are we going to do for dinner?” Zari asked.

“Take-out from the Korean place in Lexington?” Charlie suggested.

“Yes,” said Sara.

“Ok, that’s that sorted then,” Zari said. “Now or later?”

“A bit later,” Sara said. “I’m not ready to get up yet. Let Charlie recount her whole day at school first. Settling 6th and 7th graders after the fun with all our guests must have been a nightmare.”

Charlie’s face lit up, always happy to tell horror stories about school. “You got no idea. Ok, so this morning…”

…

**Ava:** Sorry, I’ve had a busy day at work. Haven’t been able to look at my phone much. How has your day been?

**Sara:** Ok. Been feeling a bit out of sorts. Had nice Korean take-away for dinner though. Are you only just getting home?

**Ava:** …Maybe? 😬  
 **Ava:** It’s been a busy day. There’s been a lot to do with everything in California. I’m not this late home everyday.

**Sara:** I’d hope not. Anyone would think you’re married to the job 😉

**Ava:** I might be a little bit.

**Sara:** Do you get overtime? Days in leu?

**Ava:** Sometimes. And I can claim it on tax.   
**Ava:** Looking at your Insta - how do you know Oliver Queen???

**Sara:** Ha! Yeah, Ollie and I go way back. He went to college with Laurel and they dated for a few years. We were all friends.

**Ava:** Gee, so your sister and the playboy multi-millionaire or however much he’s worth

**Sara:** Yep. We still keep in touch from time to time. I know his wife too. She’s pretty great.   
**Sara:** I was about to ask how you know him, but then I realised it’s probably because of the TV and magazines and interviews and all that.

**Ava:** Yep.

**Sara:** Do you want to take this over to actual messages rather than Insta-DMs? It’s annoying having to use the app. I probably should have given it to you in the first place.  
 **Sara:** My number, that is.

**Ava:** That’d be great 😃

**Sara:** Great 😊


	9. Chapter 9

**Sara:** Would you like to FaceTime?

**Sara:** Doesn’t have to be now, I know it’s late on the east coast.

**Ava:** Yes 😃

**Ava:** I’d like that. Maybe on Friday? I should be able to get away from the office a little bit earlier if that works for you.

**Sara:** Sure does 😁 I only need to be at the airport in the morning and can WFH in the afternoon, so that’d be great.

**Ava:** Great!

**Sara:** Is FaceTime the best platform for you?

**Ava:** Yep. I’ll call when I get home?

**Sara:** Sure. I’ll be around. See you Friday x

**Ava:** See you Friday 😃

…

“Ok, spit it out,” Nate said as he and Ava queued for their Friday lunch from their favourite hole-in-the-wall sushi place. The queue always went around the corner as people came from far and wide to get the super-cheap, super-delicious food served there, but it was always worth the wait. “You’ve been grinning like a madwoman all week, for two weeks, actually, and today it’s even worse. What’s going on?”

“Nothing,” Ava said, trying to stop herself from smiling, but upon catching Nate’s eye, she smiled even wider. “Well, fine, maybe there is something.”

Nate gave an over-exaggerated gasp. “Ava Sharpe, do you have a date?”

Ava blushed. “What? No, it’s not - I - we’re just…”

Nate inhaled loudly. “You have a date!”

“We’re just FaceTiming,” Ava said. “It’s not a date. I hope they haven’t run out of the salmon teriyaki.”

“I hope they haven’t run out of the tuna. Or the shiny green seaweed one. Or the roast chicken,” Nate said, “But you’re changing the topic. This is a long distance FaceTime, I’m guessing. How’d you meet this no doubt fine lady? Online?”

“In Franklin,” Ava muttered, wishing the queue would hurry up or that her brain would come up with any other subject to change the topic of conversation to.

“What - wait, really? You - while you were stuck there, you… oh,” Nate said, his eyes widening.

“Nate…”

“You and Sara Lance!”

“What? I - no, we’re - we just…” Ava stammered. “Yes, ok. Fine. It’s no big deal, ok? We just - we’re friends. I don’t even know that much about her. We - we’ve been sending text messages and have decided to have an online chat.”

“Damn, Ava. Ha! Sara Lance.”

“Please don’t make this weird,” Ava grimaced. “We met under weird circumstances and I - there’s other weird stuff that I don’t know how to bring up with her that I… never mind.”

“Wait, she does know you’re into girls, right?”

“Yeah,” Ava said. “It’s not a date though, Nate.”

“Of course not. Just a couple of gals being pals, one of whom hasn’t stopped smiling like a love-sick teenager all week,” Nate teased.

“That’s it. You’re buying both our lunch,” Ava pouted, folding her arms.

“You’re a cheap shout at about a whole $6 from this place, Sharpe. Look, I know I’m giving you a hard time about this, but that’s what pretend-brother-friends are for, and I also really do hope you have have a nice chat with her.”

“Thanks, Nate,” Ava said.

“And I want to hear every juicy detail on Monday,” Nate grinned.

Ava groaned and rolled her eyes as the queue shuffled slightly further forward.

…

Ava messaged Sara as soon as she walked in the door, and immediately kicked herself, realising that Sara probably didn’t care if Ava didn’t let her know she was home the minute she arrived. Ava took off her shoes and hurried to her room, dumping her bag on her bed. She unpinned her hair and ran her fingers through it, expecting her phone to start ringing at any moment. She shrugged off her blazer, hung it up, and then returned to the living room. As Ava was getting herself a glass of water, the phone began to ring. She took the glass to the coffee table, collapsed down on the couch and picked up her phone.

“Hey, Ava!” Sara grinned. “Nice hair. It looks pretty out like that.”

Ava smiled and dipped her chin, trying not to chew on her lips. “Thanks. It’s good to see you,” she said, adjusting how she was holding her phone.

“Good to see you too,” Sara replied. Ava could tell she was sitting at her desk at home and must be using her MacBook to call. There were a couple of figurines on the shelf behind the desk, as well as a small collection of books. “So, how’s work been today? You’re not home too late. It’s what, only half-six your time?”

“Yeah, half-past-six,” Ava said. “I, umm, would you care if I order UberEats? I haven’t had any dinner. They’re always slow on a Friday night too.”

“Of course. Do you want me to call back?”

“No, I can do it on my laptop, which I just have to go and get. One moment,” Ava said, putting the phone down and racing to her study, before realising she should have just taken her phone with her. She returned a moment later with her laptop under her arm and picked up her phone. “Ok, I’m back.”

“Nice ceiling,” Sara smirked, crunching on a slice of apple. “So, do you want to start with the boring details of each other’s days, or do you want to help me finish the crossword?” she asked, holding up the newspaper.

“Finish the crossword,” Ava said. “What are the clues for the missing words?”

They completed the crossword then talked in detail about their days, Ava appreciating having someone to debrief to, who didn’t mind her petty complaints about Gary’s general incompetence or Nate being a nuisance.

“Ok, off topic, but I’d like the long version of a story please,” Ava said, contently full after her take-away butter chicken meal. “So, you know Oliver Queen? As in Queen Consolidated Oliver Queen?”

Sara chuckled. “Yeah, I know him. Ok, you sitting comfortably for the long story?”

“Very comfortable,” Ava said, lounging on the couch with her feet up.

“Ok, so, like I’ve said, Oliver and Laurel were at college together and started going out. After I finished school and went to college, I was that kid who often hung out with her older sister and her boyfriend, who were then at grad school. I was also a massive party girl, and dated a bunch of drop kicks. You name it, I probably tried it, and I could drink just about anyone under the table. Frustratingly for pretty much everyone but me, I managed to maintain good grades despite this, so I pretty much never learnt any life lessons.”

“So you were a rebel at college?”

“My fake ID was flawless,” Sara said with a cheeky grin, cocking her head to the side. “Anyway, during my second year at college, Ollie and I began messaging each other, then Ollie and Laurel’s relationship got a bit rocky, and the messaging became more intimate. They went on a ‘break’. I don’t know if Laurel knew about our communications, but… Ollie wanted to take me out on his fancy family yacht. And I wanted to say yes. I’d made pretty much every other bad decision, so what was one more? And I think I would have, only… I didn’t like what I was doing. I wasn’t enjoying college, I was getting drunk and fucking people just to try and feel something, and I was seriously contemplating screwing up the relationships with two of the people who meant the most to me. The only thing that made me feel really good was flying. I’d already applied for the BA program, just for the heck of it. Somehow, I got in, and that was that. I took the chance to cross the world and leave the mess I’d made behind before I could make it worse. Joining the cadet program and moving to England was the best thing I could have done, and I never looked back. What about you? What were you like in college?”

Ava told Sara a couple of her stories from college that were actually worth repeating, especially since on the whole she’d found the experience simultaneously boring and overwhelming. She explained this to Sara.

“I get it,” Sara said. “High school can be such a safe little bubble, even if we don’t realise it at the time, and then you go to college and it - it’s different.”

“A lot of it was lonely,” Ava said. “I’m not a big one for parties or anything like that, plus my course was boring.”

“Why didn’t you drop out or change?” Sara asked.

“Guess I never found my equivalent to flying,” Ava said.

Sara smiled. “Surely you could have found something you disliked less. What about your serial killer podcast?”

“It’s fun, but it’s not a career. I thought about studying law or forensics or something, but I had these weird expectations of myself, and… I don’t know. Once I get some idea in my head, it can be hard to change.”

“Oh, I understand that,” Sara said. “I saw you uploaded a new episode of the podcast the other day. I’m not going to listen to it, but I subscribed and gave it five stars on iTunes.”

“It’s not scary, I promise!” Ava laughed.

“I live by myself in a small town in the woods. That’s how pretty much half of all serial killer stories start,” Sara said. “You can tell me the summary of it though. Or the things you had to leave out.”

Ava grinned. “Ok, well, this one involved a bit of research, because I needed more information on the historical context than usual. Anyway,” Ava launched into her story.

Much later, lying in bed, Ava realised how happy Sara seemed to be just to sit there and listen to her talk. No one just listened to her talk like that, not even her parents. She also noticed how smoothly Sara changed the conversation whenever it seemed to get too close to leading Ava to asking why she stopped flying. Ava sighed. There’d never be a right time for her to ask, or for her to bring up her suspicions. Ava wondered if it really mattered, but couldn’t help thinking that it might become a big pink elephant if one of them didn’t say something soon.

…

“So, did you have phone sex?” Charlie asked as casually as asking about the weather or if Sara had hung the washing out.

Sara shoved her, almost pushing her off the hiking path into the bushes. Charlie laughed. They often went for short hikes on Saturdays on one of the many tracks leading from Franklin into the woods when the weather permitted and there wasn’t anything happening at the airport. Though it was sunny at the moment, the weather was predicted to turn later on, keeping any of the casual flyers grounded and giving Sara and Zari the morning off.

“Maybe you should ask her out properly?” Zari suggested, ignoring both Charlie’s question and Sara’s response. “Have a proper FaceTime date, not just a casual chat. She obviously likes you, and it’s clear you like her.”

Sara was glad she was walking ahead of her friends so they couldn’t see her face. She and Ava had talked for over two hours, and yet the time at flown by. They’d decided that they should talk more often, either over the phone or via FaceTime, whichever suited the situation. Everything with Ava felt so natural and so right. Sara didn’t know what to make of that.

“What was she wearing?” Charlie asked.

“A work shirt if you really have to know,” Sara said.

“All buttoned up, or like, half undone and you could see her lacy underwear?”

Sara didn’t dignify Charlie’s question with a response.

“But you’re happy, yeah? All this talking to Ava, it’s making you happy,” Charlie said.

“Yeah,” Sara confessed. She looked back at her friends, unable to hide a smile. “Yeah, I really am.”

“So, maybe ask her out,” Zari said, taking Charlie’s hand and swinging it.

“My relationships have a way of ending badly,” Sara said.

“But it’s been a while since you really gave it a proper shot, Cap,” Charlie said.

“And maybe this time it won’t,” Zari said. “Besides, love is worth the risk. When I moved out here to take the chief engineer job at the airport, mostly because the title sounds cool, I didn’t think I’d find a partner, much less a girlfriend. I was terrified when Charlie first asked me out, then terrified when I had to tell my family that I was dating someone who happed to pretty much be the exact opposite of a nice Iranian muslim boy engineer from a family they know. But it’s worth it, Sara.”

“Maybe,” Sara swallowed. “I told her more about Ollie. There’s still a lot she doesn’t know though…”

“If you can cover every life story you have in two weeks, then that makes you pretty dull,” Charlie said. “I’m happy to talk to her if you want, like with Z. If you think - ”

“No,” Sara said, cutting Charlie off. “Zari’s your girlfriend, it’s right that she heard what happened from you. If - and it’s a big if - Ava is going to be mine, she needs to hear it from me.”

“Good,” said Charlie. “Now, enough about that. I want to know about every sickly sweet smile and every bit of cutesy flirting. This is an hour-long loop track we’re on, and we’re only twenty minutes in. Plenty of time for your recount. Now: go!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will be a flash-back chapter from Charlie's POV, but it's only right that we get the story from Sara's POV first, so after Sara eventually comes clean to Ava, then I'll post Charlie's, which gives a little more detail.


	10. Chapter 10

Days rolled into weeks, and before long a couple of months had passed since Ava’s unexpected visit to Franklin, California. Every morning she sent Sara a ‘good morning’ message, knowing Sara would see it some time around the middle of Ava’s morning, and would send a reply at roughly the time Ava made her mid-morning coffee. They sent messages back and forward all day as their work and schedules allowed, and spoke to each other via FaceTime multiple times a week. Ava still had no idea how to broach the topic of Sara’s former career and their possible connection, but she was happy enough to let it slide as their conversation became more natural and they became better acquainted with the characters and settings in one another’s lives.

Though they never used any sort of label to describe themselves, Ava felt she could be more intimate and more open with Sara than with anyone she had ever met. She had dated people in the past, but nothing had ever gone anywhere. Perhaps it was because Sara was on the other side of the country, Ava thought, though the feeling was stronger than that. The feelings she felt towards Sara interested her: protective, proud, a sort of awe and adoration. It was easier to dwell on those thoughts than the ones where Ava wanted to hold Sara in her arms before deftly undressing her and running her hands all over Sara’s toned body.

It should have been just another Monday morning filled with general meetings and briefings, but late on Friday afternoon all staff at the Office of National Emergency were told to clear their schedules at 11am on Monday morning. Ava knew it would not be good news, but was annoyed that she hadn’t been briefed on whatever it was.

At a quarter past twelve, Ava stalked back to her office and closed the door with more force than was necessary. If Gary or anyone else interrupted her, they were going to cop it. She sat down at her desk and pulled out her phone, feeling frustrated and tense as the phone rang.

“Hey! Ava!” Sara grinned. “I wasn’t expecting a call. You’re looking very official.”

“Well, I am at the office,” Ava said, feeling less stressed already by just seeing Sara.

“So am I, but you know,” Sara said, waving her arm around her small office at the airport. She was wearing a hoodie with the airport’s logo on the front, there was a high-vis vest on the back of her chair, and a large map of the area on the wall behind her. “Is everything ok? You look a bit stressed and you haven’t called from your office before.”

“I’m not interrupting anything?” Ava asked.

Sara shrugged. “Nothing that can’t wait. What’s up?”

Ava took a deep breath. “We just had a big meeting.”

“Yeah, you said that in your ‘good morning’ text. How’d that go?”

“The budget has been slashed. Again.” Ava said. “I - they’re offering half a dozen voluntary redundancy packages, and if they’re not taken up, then some people will get a tap on the shoulder. We’ve got two weeks to decide.”

“And you think you’ll be one of them?” Sara asked.

“No,” Ava said, “I think I want to volunteer.”

“Oh,” Sara replied. “Umm, have you told your boss?”

“No,” Ava sighed. “And I don’t know if I should. Take a redundancy package, that is. I’m sure if I go, they won’t replace my role. They’ll just let others pick up the slack.”

“That’s not your issue,” Sara said. “But you did say when you were staying here that you were thinking about changing jobs. Perhaps this is a sign.”

“Maybe,” Ava said, pleasantly surprised that Sara remembered their conversation from a couple of months ago. “I still don’t know what I’d do though. And I don’t know if this is the right time, or the right circumstances. I - I don’t know.”

“Is it ever the right time?” Sara asked kindly. “Perhaps you need a change of scenery.”

“Maybe, but like I said - ”

“I mean a very physical change of scenery, this week. Maybe come to Star City for the weekend? I wouldn’t hate seeing you in person again,” Sara smiled.

Ava bit her lip. “I wouldn’t hate that either.”

“Think about it,” Sara said. “It’s a four-hour drive for me, and I should probably visit my dad as well. It would be nice to see you.”

“Let me think about it,” Ava said, having already half made up her mind. She gave Sara a smile. “Thanks for listening.”

“Anytime,” Sara said. “I’ll let you go. I’m guessing it’s your lunch break now?”

“Yeah, I should probably go get something,” Ava said. “I’ll message you later.”

“Talk later.”

“Bye.”

“Bye.”

Ava hung up and took a deep breath. She stood up, grabbed her coat and sent a quick message to Nate, hoping he’d be able to meet up with her.

Nate met Ava out the front of their building. “So, what do you feel like? A burger? Sushi? Pizza? Pretty much any Asian cuisine you can name? Subway? McDonalds?”

“Can we just walk first?” Ava asked.

“Sure,” Nate said.

“Unless you really want to eat first?”

“Nah, I’ve had a sandwich, but it wasn’t exactly thrilling. I’ve already heard about the budget cuts,” he said.

Ava sighed. “They’ve offering redundancy packages.”

“You’ll be safe.”

“I’m thinking of taking one,” Ava said. “I - I think. I don’t know.”

“Well, that - yeah, that’s a lot to think about,” Nate said, popping his collar up against the wind and shoving his hands into his coat pockets.

Ava nodded. “I called Sara.”

“Last night?” Nate asked.

“No, just now, immediately after the meeting,” Ava replied.

“Oh.”

“She asked if I’d like to go visit her in Star City.”

“Ooooh.”

“This weekend.”

“And you said…?”

“I’ll think about it.”

“Oh,” Nate said. “Sounds like you’ve got a _lot_ of thinking to do.”

“Yeah,” Ava said, increasing their pace to try and warm up. “She said it’s about a four hour drive for her to Star City, but I guess it’s still the closest city to Franklin, and that she could see her dad. I don’t know if her sister still lives there or not.”

“I thought her sister died,” Nate said.

“What?” Ava said and stopped, suddenly very glad she hadn’t eaten. Her stomach tightened as she looked at Nate.

“Umm… I thought that Laurel died? A couple of years back in a car accident, I’m pretty sure. Queen Consolidated made some big donation or something to somewhere over in Star City in her name.”

“That can’t be right,” Ava said. “Because I think Sara was in an accident…”

“She was. Laurel died sometime afterwards. Six months, maybe a year later? I don’t really know. But I think the two events were pretty close.”

“You’re sure?” Ava asked.

“Sadly. Ray’s buddies with Oliver Queen. Pretty sure he was the link that got Sara the job in Franklin.”

“But she - Sara never said… she always talks about Laurel as though she…” Ava sighed with sad realisation. “Like she’s out of town or lives in another state. I thought it was just because Franklin is so far from everything…”

“I think it was all pretty hard for Sara,” Nate said as they resumed walking without paying much attention to where they were going. “First whatever happened to her, then losing Laurel.”

“You don’t know what happened to Sara?” Ava asked.

“No. Don’t you?” Nate asked.

Ava bit her lip. “I don’t know how to bring it up with her,” she said. “I know that something happened, and that’s why she stopped flying, and I’m pretty sure that I - ” Ava stopped herself before mentioning the evacuation from Islamabad that may or may not have been Sara. “I hope she’ll tell me when she’s ready.”

They wandered to a nearby park bench. Almost all the benches were empty thanks to the cold, driving winds. Ava and Nate sat down.

“What do I do?” Ava mumbled, looking out across the well-manicured park.

“Do you want to see her?” Nate asked gently. “Forget about work drama and family drama and general drama. Do you want to see Sara?”

Ava swallowed. There was only one honest answer. “Yes.”

“So much that you’d fly across the country to do so?”

Ava thought of Sara’s big, beaming smile, and the way her eyes squinted when she smiled like that. Ava couldn’t really remember exactly how tall Sara was, only that she was shorter than her and had felt so perfect in her arms when they’d shared a quick hug at Franklin Airport. “Yes.”

“From what you’ve told me about her over the past couple of months of your long distance not-dating or whatever you’re calling it, and the few things I’ve heard from Ray, you should go. She wouldn’t have asked if she didn’t want to see you.”

“It’s been years since I’ve been on a real date.”

“Who cares?” Nate said.

“Even if I take Friday off work, it would only be a short visit, and a lot of time spent on planes.”

“Again, who cares? You’re owed weeks of time in leu. Also, now you’re making up excuses to not go.”

“You really think I should?”

“You clearly like this woman,” Nate said. “So what if she hasn’t dumped every trauma on you yet? When was the last time you had a weekend away? And that unscheduled stay in Franklin doesn’t count.”

“But Thanksgiving is coming up, and I was going to go to Fresno and - ”

“And abandon me with my own family!? Ava!”

“Ok!” Ava chuckled. “I’ll stay in DC for Thanksgiving. What’s the worst that can happen in a weekend in Star City, right?”

“That’s the spirit,” Nate said, standing back up. “Now, I don’t know about you, but I want a hotdog from the stand over there.”

Ava stood up. “Nate, what if she wants to - you know?”

“Have sex?” Nate asked. “Sorry, Ava, but that’s something you’re going to have to Google by yourself.”

“No, I know how to - I mean, socially? What do I do?”

“Communicate,” Nate said. “Be honest with your intentions, tell her if it’s going too far or too fast and you need to slow down or take a break or stop completely. Talk to her. Why are you asking me? I thought girls were meant to be better at this kind of stuff.”

“You know I’m not,” Ava said.

“Then tell her that,” Nate said. “Give it a chance. Don’t think to far ahead, and don’t overthink things.”

“Easier said than done,” Ava mumbled.

Nate grinned and wrapped his arm around Ava’s shoulders. “Ava Sharpe is going on a proper date with a pretty girl, all the way in Star City,” he announced to a few pigeons who were the only other life nearby.

“ _If_ I go,” Ava said, but was unable to stop herself from smiling.

Nate grinned and wrapped his arm around Ava’s . “Star City better look out. I hear that Sara Lance can be trouble, and team her up with Ava Sharpe - phwar. Look out world, this could be legendary.”

…

Sara wondered if she’d somehow ruined everything as she stared into the fridge, looking for inspiration for dinner. Had she been too rash? Too presumptive? She exhaled. Ava hadn’t been in touch since the phone call earlier; no doubt she’d been working all afternoon, and it was rare for her to be in touch when at work. It didn’t matter either way, Sara tried to convince herself. Of course it would be nice to see Ava, but if she didn’t want to come, it didn’t change anything.

Sara heard her phone ping. She closed the fridge and raced into the living room, where her phone was on the charger.

**Ava:** See you Friday 😃  
FW: Booking Confirmation : SHARPE, AVA Ref no : UX83…

**Sara:** I’ll be waiting at the arrivals gate 😁😁

**Ava:** Thanks. Booked a hotel too. I can’t wait to see you. The change of scenery will be welcome too. I’ll call you tomorrow night my time?

**Sara:** Yep. Have a good sleep.

**Ava:** Time to read about some serial killers first. Have a nice evening x

“Yes!” Sara exclaimed out-loud, grinning for ear-to-ear, deciding on risotto for dinner, as the gentle cooking process gave her plenty of time to stir the rice with one hand, and message her dad, Charlie and Zari, Leo, and Gideon with the other.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank-you everyone for all the comments and kudos. Here we go with Ava in Star City: Part 1

**Zari:** Hey, is this Ava?

**StabCastPod:** Yes, this is Ava.

**Zari:** Hi, this is Zari. We met briefly in Franklin the other month, and I didn’t know how else to find you without asking Sara. She mentioned the podcast, and thought this was the right name, so I looked you up on the socials. I work with Sara at the airport.

**StabCastPod:** Hi Zari, I do remember you. Sara’s mentioned you too.

**Zari:** Cool.  
 **Zari:** Just thought you might like to know she’s not really into flowers, more of a food and beverages person.

**StabCastPod:** Oh, that’s very helpful. Thank-you.  
 **StabCastPod:** Do you know her favourites?

**Zari:** If it comes in a tall box and you can generally only buy it in Duty Free, she likes it.

**StabCastPod:** I live in DC, not a foreign country.

**Zari:** I’m sure DC has fancy bottle shops.   
**Zari:** Not that you need to get her anything, I mean. No pressure. This is just a heads-up type thing. Something to keep in mind for the future.

**StabCastPod:** Oh, yeah. Thanks.

**Zari:** Enjoy the weekend 😉

…

During the six-hour flight across the country, Ava began to question whether this was the right thing to do. She would be spending less than 48 hours on the ground to meet up with a woman she barely knew, in a city she’d never been to and knew little about other than it’s crime rates. This was costing a fair amount money, as well as a day’s annual leave. Ava had enough on her plate; she didn’t need to be running off across the country to see a friend, or whatever Sara was. However, the moment Ava walked through the arrivals gate and saw Sara waiting for her, all these thoughts disappeared.

“Hey,” Sara grinned.

“Hi,” Ava said, letting go of her suitcase to gave Sara a hug. It was amazing how right Sara feltin her arms. Ava was tired after an early start to get to the airport, and was sick of queuing and of other people, all of whom seemed to have no idea as to how to navigate an airport, but all of that fell away as she relaxed into Sara’s embrace.

“Welcome to Star City,” Sara said, eventually letting go. “Do you need lunch?”

“I ate on the plane,” Ava said, taking hold of her suitcase handle. “And I think my body is expecting dinner more than a second lunch.”

“Ah yes, mealtime jet lag,” Sara said. “Well, let’s go dump your stuff at your hotel, then find somewhere to eat.”

“Do you have any suggestions?” Ava asked as Sara led the way to the adjoining train station.

“Not really,” Sara said. “When I come here I always stay with dad, and either we cook at home, or grab take-out from one of his favourite places nearby. I’m sure TripAdvisor will had some good suggestions for places near the hotel. I bought you a ticket,” Sara said, pulling a paper train-ticket out of her pocket and handing it to Ava.

“Thanks,” Ava said, taking the ticket, as Sara used a plastic public transport pass to get through the barriers at the station. Ava continued to follow Sara through the concourse and onto the escalator. “Is this new?” Ava asked, looking around.

“A few old, I think,” Sara said. “Most of Star City might be dodgy and dangerous, but someone decided that the entrance from the airport to the city should at least make a decent impression.”

Ava began to worry about the safety of the city when Sara looked back at her with a smirk, and Ava felt that everything was going to be all right.

Just under half an hour later they arrived at Ava’s hotel. During the train ride and short walk to the hotel, Ava had given Sara a very detailed recount of her flight as Sara prompted her with questions Ava would never have considered asking anyone about their flight, and Sara talked briefly about her scenic drive through hills and forests from Franklin.

“Well, this is nice,” Sara said, looking around the lobby of the hotel. “No fold-out couches here.”

Ava chuckled. “I don’t see the point in staying places that aren’t at least as nice as my own house,” she said.

“Very fair,” said Sara, taking note of the hotel bar and restaurant. “It’s the sort of place I used to stay all the time.”

“Really?” Ava asked as they queued at the check-in desk.

“As a pilot you have to have a good night’s sleep, and quiet rooms and comfy beds are rather necessary for that. I think that LATAM crews might stay here, actually. I know a couple of airlines who use this family of hotels, anyway.”

“So a pilot’s seal of approval, then?” Ava smiled.

“Absolutely,” Sara said. “I’ll make sure I always point you in the direction of good hotels, but you seem to be pretty good at picking them out yourself.”

“Next, please,” said the woman behind the desk. Sara stepped aside to allow Ava to check-in.

Ten minutes later they were heading out again, Sara having found a nice place on the quayside for a late lunch for her and early dinner for Ava while Ava had quickly unpacked a few items and freshened up. They walked to the chosen quayside restaurant as the afternoon was sunny and mild for the time of year and Ava needed to stretch after being cramped up in the aeroplane for hours. The restaurant had large glass windows overlooking the quay, and as they arrived at an awkward time, Sara and Ava were seated right in front of them, with views of the water and the people walking by. They enjoyed a meal of fish and chips with a glass of white wine, falling into easy conversation.

“That was really nice. Good Googling by myself, if I may say so,” Sara said, leaning back and stretching in her chair.

Ava smiled. “Very good Googling. I’m not often one for fish and chips, however fancy, but that was really nice. The crumbed fish was perfect and the chips were so crunchy on the outside and soft in the middle. Plus that wine…”

“For a house wine, that was really nice,” Sara said. “Of course, I’d hope so, given the price per glass. Time to move on? I think they want to clean up our table and get ready for the early dinner rush, especially since it’s Friday afternoon.”

“I nearly forgot what day it was,” Ava said. “It feels like I’m on vacation.”

“You are on vacation,” Sara smiled, standing up and pulling her coat back on. “Time to walk that meal off?”

“Definitely,” Ava said, following Sara.

“I’m paying because I chose the venue.”

“But - ” Ava tried to protest, having already reached for her wallet. Sara gave her a look that told Ava she was definitely the one calling the shots right now. “Fine. But I’m paying for the next meal.”

“Only if you choose the venue,” Sara said with a smirk, giving Ava the feeling Sara might have their dining planned after all. “You paid for flights and accommodation. A couple of meals is the least I can do.”

“It would take a full tank of gas to get to Franklin and back.”

“Yeah, but I have free lodging at my dad’s,” Sara said. “And free food. He insists on feeding me, and honestly, I don’t protest.”

Not long afterwards they were enjoying the late afternoon sunshine in the park by the quay. There were more pigeons and seagulls around than other people, and the breeze swirled the fallen autumn leaves around the park. Sara pointed out a few major sights that could be seen from their vantage point, but they were both happy to without a destination in mind.

“So,” Sara said after a little while of casual conversation, “There’s actually a few things you need to know about me. Things that I - they’re not really FaceTime conversations. They’re not really sunny afternoons in the park-type conversations either, but, umm…”

Ava swallowed. “I know about Laurel,” said she gently, then immediately regretted saying so.

“Oh,” said Sara, looking at her feet as she walked, purposefully seeking out crunchy-looking leaves to stand on. “Yeah, well, that - that sucked.”

“I’m sorry, I don’t know if - I shouldn’t have interrupted you and - ”

“It’s ok,” Sara said. “I should have told you earlier but I - I don’t like talking about it as though she’s actually dead because… I don’t. It’s easier to talk about her as though she’s just somewhere else, the way I did when I was in London and she really was on the other side of the world.”

“I understand,” Ava said. “Not that I’ve lost any siblings, I’ve never had any, but, I - umm…”

Sara looked up at Ava and gave a soft smile. “It’s ok. I know what you mean. Do you know what happened?”

“Car accident?”

“Yeah,” Sara sighed. “How did you know, just by the way? Not that I mind, I’m actually kind of glad that you do, just…?”

“Do you know Nate Heywood?”

“Is that Ray Palmer’s buddy Nate?”

“Yeah,” Ava said.

“How do you know him?” Sara asked.

“We work in the same building. We’ve known each other for years. He’s a bit like a surrogate brother, actually, especially as we’re both only-children. I’ve spent a few Thanksgivings with his family too,” Ava explained.

“Nice,” said Sara. “You know Ray knows Oliver?”

“Nate’s given me the six steps of separation story.”

“Good, saves me from drawing the relationship tree,” Sara smiled, though it didn’t quite reach her eyes.

“I am sorry about Laurel.”

“Thanks,” Sara said, slipping her hand into Ava’s. “So am I.”

They walked in silence for a few minutes, hand-in-hand but each lost in their own thoughts.

“There is more,” Sara said, breaking the silence. “More than just Laurel. I’m pretty bad at relationships. I’ve had a couple but they always go south, or were bad to start with. A string of drop-kicks at college, before I nearly ruined things with Laurel and Ollie. I had a girlfriend in London for a couple of years, but I managed to mess that up too. Hook-ups are easier, though it’s been a while since I’ve even done that. Everything has of going wrong, and I’m prone to self-sabotage. I always have, all sorts of things, not just relationships. I’m sorry, I…”

“I don’t think you always do,” Ava said, still holding Sara’s hand and giving it a squeeze. “When you want to stop yourself, you do something radical. You drop out of college and move continents, you… you ask someone you hardly know if they’d like to cross the country to come and visit you. Because you do want to do the right thing. You want good things, for yourself and people around you. And I want to be here.”

Sara smiled reluctantly. “Thank-you for coming. When I asked - honestly, I had no idea what you were going to say. When I answered your call on Monday I had no idea what you were going to say either, but thank-you for coming.”

“Honestly,” Ava said, swinging Sara’s hand as they walked, “On the plane I thought I was insane coming all this way for two days, but I’m starting to think it was the smartest thing I’ve ever agreed to.”

Sara grinned.

Ava swallowed. She hated to break the perfect atmosphere, but there was something she had to know, and knew it had to be said in person. “There is something, though,” she began, “And I don’t know how to put it, and I definitely don’t think it’s a FaceTime thing, or…”

“What do you know?” Sara asked. Ava saw her deflate slightly.

“You know how I used to work for the military, primarily doing medical logistics?” Ava asked, feeling her stomach tighten. 

“Yeah?”

“Well, ‘medical logistics’ is sort of a euphemism for coordinating personal evacuations. And I - maybe I’m completely wrong, but I - on your Instagram page, there’s the post from Islamabad, and I - on that date I evacuated a woman from there to Germany and I - I think it was you,” Ava finished so softly she was surprised Sara could hear her.

“Oh,” Sara said. “Well, that - ”

“I’m sorry, it’s insane. It’s not like we were given names or… well, there’s no reason that - ”

“What I was going to say,” Sara said, stepping in front of Ava, looking her in the eye and taking both her hands, “Is it’s really spooky that that was you.” Sara swallowed and sighed. “Because that - damn,” she said, looking down.

“I’m sorry, I - ”

“Do you know what happened?”

“No,” Ava said. “We only get need-to-know information, and details such as what caused the emergency or even the person’s name don’t fall into that category.”

Sara nodded. “You have to know,” she said. “You deserve to know. I’ve wanted to tell you for so long but… it’s not something I’m recounting in the park. Your hotel room has a mini-bar, yeah?”

“I don’t know if there’s anything in it,” Ava said.

Sara took a deep breath. “At least it’s private,” she said, still not letting go of Ava’s hand as she led them back towards the hotel.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ava in Star City: Part 2

They didn’t speak much on the walk back to the hotel, only making the occasional comment about the traffic or weather, neither feeling the need to fill the silence. Once they were in Ava’s room, Sara paced awkwardly, while Ava sat down on her bed and took off her boots to have something to do while she waited for Sara to compose herself.

“I’d been flying 787s for just over a year,” Sara said, not really knowing where or how to start. “I liked the longer-haul flights compared to the short ones on the A320s around Europe, plus I quickly decided I liked Boeing better compared to Airbus. There’s a few things in the cockpit that are a bit different and I just - do you know anything anything about planes?”

“No,” Ava said. “Only flying on them, nothing about flying them.”

“Right,” Sara said. “I won’t go into the technical aspects then.”

“You can if you want to,” Ava said, wanting Sara to feel relaxed, even if that meant talking about technical things Ava didn’t understand. “And you’re allowed to sit down.”

“I’m ok,” Sara said. “Anyway, it was my third flight to Islamabad. I took off from Heathrow, and my captain did the landing into Islamabad. I was going to do the landing on the return. We usually mixed it up and sorted it out depending on who needed a turn at take-off and landing at different airports.”

“Huh,” said Ava, having never thought about things like that. She had a feeling that if prompted, Sara could launch into a story about all her favourite airports to take-off from and land in, so Ava did say anything else.

“Anyway,” Sara continued, “We got into Islamabad, the landing was fine, went to the hotel, and made plans for dinner with the crew. It’s funny how you live in each others’ pockets for less than 48 hours, talking about anything and everything, then you might not fly with the same crew again for years. Anyway, someone else in the crew had been to Islamabad fairly recently and told us about really good Biryani place, so we agreed to go there. They eat a lot of saffron rice in Pakistan as well, but I think Zari’s saffron rice is nicer than any I’ve had eating out.”

“That would be nice to try one day,” Ava said.

“I’m getting distracted,” Sara muttered.

“That’s ok,” Ava said.

“I’m doing it on purpose.”

“If you don’t want to…”

“I do, I just - I haven’t told anyone else. Everyone who knows either new from the start, or they’re doctors who read my file, or they’re Zari, who Charlie told. It’s not that I’m worried about it or anything, it just isn’t something that happens on a daily basis so…”

Ava nodded.

Sara took a deep breath. “Back in the hotel, I had a shower, then had room service for lunch and took a nap because it had been a night-flight, but I didn’t want to sleep for too long or I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night. After that I decided to go for a walk. The hotel was in a nice part of town and…” Sara swallowed. She was aware that she was rambling, but she didn’t know what details to put in or what to leave out. “I liked going for a walk by myself. It helps you sleep. I always did it when time allowed, regardless of what the time was. I messaged the crew to see if anyone else wanted to go just out of politeness, but they were all still napping or happy by the pool or generally not wanting to go out in the heat. It wasn’t that hot. There was a slight breeze, which was pleasant.”

Ava tried to imagine the city she’d never been to, but all she could see in her mind was Sara’s silly Instagram post about the bathroom amenities.

Sara continued, looking at everything in the room but Ava. “I was walking along past embassies and government buildings. There was armed security everywhere, which is normal in a city like that, especially in that area. I never felt like I was in any danger. I had all my documents on me that I’d need if I was stopped, and I was wearing loose cotton trousers and a linen shirt with the sleeves rolled up to my elbows. I - ” Sara paused and took a deep breath. “To be honest, I don’t actually remember what happened. I was walking down the warm, hazy tree-lined street in Pakistan, and then I woke up in a very sterile hospital in Germany.”

“What did happen?” Ava asked gently.

“ISIS. Apparently. They claimed it, and no one was going to argue. It could have been them, it could have been some loner. I don’t know if anyone knows or really cares. It doesn’t matter now, it was years ago,” Sara said, tense yet dismissive. She could feel her heart pounding. Why was this so hard?

“So what happened?” Ava asked, worried Sara was about to close up on her.

“Suicide bomber. In a car. In the middle of a busy street at rush hour in the nice part of town in a country where that sort of shit isn’t supposed to happen. Part of the car or something was blown into me, shattered my femur and broke my pelvis. I’ve got scars on my side and back from glass and general debris. Concussion from where I hit my head on the ground when I was blasted aside, plus a cracked shoulder blade. Four broken ribs, two that were pressing into my lung - ”

“Causing it to collapse. I remember that from your brief,” Ava said.

Sara nodded stiffly.

“I still don’t understand how it ended up with me, though,” Ava said. “You wouldn’t have been the only one hurt, and I’m sure the hospitals in Islamabad - ”

“Gideon,” Sara said, cutting Ava off. “She - I found out later that she called in every favour she had to get me out. Because of who her contacts are and the location it was easier to engage the military than wait for civilian support. Given the circumstances, it gave them more leeway to help then otherwise.”

“Damn, you’re not kidding about friends in high places,” Ava said with a small smile.

“I don’t know what exactly Gideon did in her younger days in the RAF, and considering what she was able to pull off for me, I’m almost afraid to ask,” Sara said, still standing and still avoiding Ava’s gaze. “After Germany, she offered to send me to a rehab place in England, but my dad wanted to take me back to America. I wasn’t in any state to be making decisions for myself, and my dad, being my actual parent, had the final say.”

“Oh,” Ava said, wishing she had something more substantial to add.

“I didn’t know that until later, when Charlie told me. Part of me still wishes my dad had let Gideon take me back to the UK. When I left, I - I had the study guide and practise books for British Citizenship sitting on my kitchen bench. Dual citizenship would speed things up in immigration. I guess it doesn’t matter now,” Sara said.

Ava thought for a moment, finding this all a lot to take in. Her mind was churning, trying to put together what she remembered of Sara’s file all those years ago with what Sara was telling her now. “Was Laurel with you in Germany?” she asked for lack of a better question.

Sara could feel her chest tightening, but forced herself to continue. “Yes. Laurel and Dad came to Germany. She - back here, I’d just started proper physio. I’d just started walking again, supported by bars and other people. Standing upright again felt so good and I’d starting putting weight back on. A couple of times I fell ill with infection and I - I was on so much medication and I wasn’t well. And then - then we had to bury Laurel and almost no one there had seen me for years since I’d left for Britain, and there I was, broken, sick and crippled. Most people just avoided me. I didn’t care. It was easier to ignore them too than to have to converse with anyone.”

“I’m sorry,” Ava said.

“Yeah,” Sara sighed, her resolve seeming to falter. “I should have died. A couple of times, I should have died but I didn’t, and then Laurel did. And I - I needed her. Anyone else I wanted was 5,000 miles away, and I - ” Sara took a deep breath and composed herself. “That was when Charlie said she’d come and stay as soon as she could get a work visa. So, any questions?”

Ava had dozens of questions. Hundreds. The one which came out wasn’t the most important, or even very diplomatic, and definitely not that right thing to say. “Does it stop you from doing anything?”

Sara swallowed and sat down on the edge of the bed, staring at the wall above the TV. “Wearing a bikini?” she suggested with a tiny smirk, clutching the bedcovers to stop her hands from shaking.

“Oh yeah, I bet you look terrible,” Ava deadpanned, breaking some of the tension in the room.

Sara caught Ava’s eye for a moment before looking away. She swallowed hard and inhaled deeply. “The easy answer is no. I like to go walking and hiking around Franklin. I can drive, and I can run. I can do burpees and squats and lunge-jumps. But I - you know how I told you that I used to dance?”

Ava nodded.

“Even in London I did drop-in dance classes. Jazz, Broadway, hip-hop, tap. Whatever was on when I was available. I tried to go once a week. Sometimes I’d even drag Charlie along when the stars aligned and all our schedules met up. But since then…” Sara swallowed. “I haven’t even tried. And that’s the same reason I’m not a pilot anymore. Because I haven’t tried.”

Ava didn’t know where to look or what to say. “Oh,” she said, a bit pathetically.

Sara’s shoulders dropped. “Please don’t repeat this,” she muttered. “Not to Charlie or Zari or… or anyone. If they’ve guessed, well good for them, but… I haven’t tried because I’d rather not know if I can still dance than to try and find out that I can’t. I’d rather not sit the medical to find out if I’m allowed to be a pilot because I can’t think that I’ll never sit in a cockpit again, but if I don’t know, if it always remains a ‘one day’-type thing, then… if I take the medical and they say I can’t fly… I can’t hear that, Ava. I just can’t. I can live with not knowing. I don’t know if I can with being told no.”

Ava rested her hand on the bed by her side, millimetres from Sara’s, but afraid to encroach on Sara’s personal space without being invited. “Oh,” Ava said, wishing she had something better to say. She wanted to give Sara a hug, or at the very least hold her hand. “Can I hold your hand?”

Sara closed the millimetres between their fingers, grabbing Ava’s hand and entwining their fingers. Ava felt a rush of warmth spread through her body. Sara still stared at the wall.

“Do you think I’m stupid?” Sara asked.

“No,” Ava said. “I don’t think you’re stupid. I think you’re a damned fine woman, faced with some extraordinary circumstances.”

Sara looked at Ava, a small smile on her face and tears in her eyes. “I’m so scared, Ava. And everyone tells me how strong and how brave I am, but I’m not. I’m just scared, but I’m too scared to even tell anyone because they think I’m so brave and strong and those words lost all meaning so long ago… so anyway, that’s why I manage a tiny, municipal airport in the middle of nowhere, instead of flying jumbo jets for a major airline,” Sara finished, looking back at the wall.

“I still think you’re extraordinary,” Ava murmured, grateful for the soft lamplight so that Sara wouldn’t see her blushing.

Sara closed her eyes tightly to force back tears. “So, you - do you still want to try? This - whatever this is, with you and me? Because I absolutely understand if - ”

“Yes, of course I want to try, you goober,” Ava said. “Now, I’m sure you know somewhere that serves decent food and stiff drinks, because I think Ms Lance, that you and I are both in desperate need of that.”

Sara nodded and closed her eyes.

“Come here,” Ava said, pulling Sara into her arms. Sara curled up around Ava. She didn’t cry, but Ava felt her shiver before exhaling and relaxing into Ava’s hold. They stayed that way for some minutes, just holding onto one another, before Sara lifted her head.

“I think I could do with that drink now,” she said.

Ava smiled. “Let’s go see what we can find.”

They didn’t get any further than the bar in the hotel lobby in their search for refreshments, and took a seat in one of the plush booths. Ava had spotted a man about to approach them as soon as they sat down and gave him such a look that he had second thoughts.

“What’s up?” Sara asked, seeing Ava’s expression.

“That man was going to come over and hit on us,” Ava replied.

“Oh,” said Sara, spotting the man eyeing them off. “Is it ok if I kiss you?” she asked. She was still feeling very highly strung, but every part of her wanted all of Ava. “That usually gives men a hint.”

“Heck yes,” Ava said.

Sara leant across and pulled Ava in for a kiss, entangling her fingers in Ava’s hair. Ava wrapped one hand around Sara’s back and the other in her hair. She could feel Sara’s passion and nervous energy, finally having a release for all the emotion she’d been holding onto for so long.

When they finally broke apart, Ava smiled. The waiter delivered their drinks and a large bowl of nachos.

“You feeling ok?” Ava asked as Sara gulped back her drink and signalled the bar for another.

“It’s just - a lot,” Sara said. “And not exactly something I talk about every day. Or ever, if I can avoid it.”

Ava gave Sara a kiss on the cheek. “Well, I think you’re wonderful. And a really good kisser.”

“I’m good at more than just that,” Sara said.

Ava smirked. “Maybe you can show me that later.”

“Maybe I will,” Sara said with a smirk.

“If you don’t mind me asking, what do you tell other people? About the incident?”

Sara shrugged. “That I got hit by a car. It’s not a lie, it’s just - not the whole truth.”

Ava nodded. “If I have questions, is it ok to ask? Or…?”

“You have permission to ask whatever you want, whenever you want,” Sara said, pulling off a nacho with a very stringy piece of cheese attached. “You’re the only one with that permission.”

They didn’t linger in the bar, returning to Ava’s room hand-in-hand almost as soon as they’d finished their light meal and drinks. Ava had a quick shower, feeling the need to freshen up after having spent hours on the plane earlier, and they climbed into bed fairly early, both happy to snuggle and feel each other’s warmth. Cuddling soon lead to more intimate activities, and Ava learnt that Sara was correct in stating that she was more than just a good kisser.

“Can you tell me how it works?” Sara asked later on. They’d turned the lights out a while ago, and after a bit of pillow talk. Sara was wearing only the change of knickers and maroon long-sleeve t-shirt she had in her bag, while Ava wore matching satin pyjamas.

“Hmm?” Ava asked, rolling over to face Sara, having thought that Sara had fallen asleep.

“Evacuating people. Like what you did for me,” Sara said, rolling towards Ava, their faces only inches apart. Ava hadn’t paid any specific attention to Sara’s scars, which made her feel comfortable, especially as the scars on her body were easy enough to overlook in the dim lamplight, though the long, pale scar running from her right hip to just above her knee was impossible to miss.

“The general procedure, or your case specifically?” Ava asked.

“The general procedure with footnotes on how mine differed?” Sara suggested with a yawn.

“Are you going to fall asleep?” Ava smiled.

“Probably,” Sara said. “But can you start? Please?”

Ava smiled in the dark. Though she couldn’t see her, she had a feeling that Sara’s eyes were closed.

“Be very technical about planes, please,” Sara added.

Ava chuckled and found Sara’s hands to hold. “Weirdest bedtime story, but ok.”

“I’ll tell you in the morning which part you were up to before I fell asleep,” Sara said.

Ava yawned. “That’s if I don’t fall asleep first. Anyway, when the request for evacuation comes in…”

Sara fell asleep within minutes. Ava rolled onto her back and closed her eyes, listening to Sara’s gentle, steady breathing beside her, and soon fell asleep too, with nothing but happy thoughts of Sara Lance on her mind.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we have a slight break from the main story to insert Charlie's story. Whereas Sara's version is mostly an overview, Charlie's gives more details on a specific moment. The next chapter shall resume the fun in Star City.

~ Three Years Ago ~

Charlie sat on the train, staring blankly out the window at the unfamiliar towns and countryside rushing by. She looked at her phone: no new messages and twenty minutes until she reached her destination. And it would take exactly twenty minutes, this was Germany after all. Part of her wished she’d gone with Gideon, but that would have meant taking more time off work, plus it was almost half-term and more hassle than Charlie could bring herself to deal with since the morning she’d woken up with that message from Gideon waiting for her…

Charlie sighed. She’d exchanged dozens, if not hundreds, of messages with Gideon since that morning almost a month ago, but Charlie would never forgot those words.

_Have you seen the news? The American is Sara._

Charlie hadn’t seen the news, because she’d just woken up and Gideon had messaged her at some ridiculous hour during the night. She’d gone to the BBC website, having no idea what Gideon was talking about. The top story was about EPL transfers, the second about the Foreign Secretary saying something daft, and the third about a missing person in Scotland. Charlie had scrolled down. She knew what news Gideon was referring to the moment she saw the headline:

_Five Killed in Suicide Bomber Attack in Islamabad. ISIS claims responsibility._

Charlie hadn’t wanted to open the link, but she did, dread rising within her. Amongst the 27 people wounded was one American.

“What the fucking hell is going on?” Charlie had cried down the phone to Gideon while she’d quickly gotten ready for school. She forced herself to have a cup of tea: she couldn’t stomach any actual food.

“First Office Lance has been airlifted to Germany,” Gideon said.

“Use her fucking name, Gideon. Fucking hell. What - is she ok? Is she going to be ok?”

“I’m sorry, Charlie,” Gideon had said. “I really don’t know.”

Charlie didn’t know how she’d made it through the morning. She didn’t know what content she taught, but somehow the kids had known not to mess with her. At recess she’d gone to the head teacher’s office and told him everything.

“Do you need the rest of the day off?” he asked.

“I - I don’t… there’s nothing I can do.”

“Not for her,” he said. “But for you. Do you need the rest of the day off?”

An hour later Charlie was sitting on her couch being comforted by Gideon while they waited for news.

The train arrived in Mannheim at precisely it’s scheduled time. Charlie checked into the hotel, which was generic enough to been anywhere in the world. She dumped her suitcase, fixed her hair, and hurried to the hospital, not entirely sure what the guidelines on visiting times were. Another benefit of travelling with Gideon would have been that things like visiting times didn’t really apply to her the way the did for normal people. She had a way of always getting what she wanted. Charlie checked her phrase book again. She could be polite and order a meal and a beer in German, but that wasn’t going to cut it when asking for directions to a ward in a hospital. She hoped she would find someone who spoke English, or even French at a stretch (she knew finding a fellow Latin-speaker was unlikely).

Soon she found someone who could help, and shortly afterwards was standing in a hallway, looking through a window at a small figure on a bed, attached to all sorts of wires and tubes. Charlie didn’t like it. She didn’t like hospitals and never had. They made her uncomfortable. She thought about leaving.

“Charlie?”

Charlie turned around and saw a familiar blonde woman, who looked exceptionally tired. Laurel had been in London only what, two months ago? She looked as though she’d aged about two years. “Laurel. Hi.”

“Gideon said you were hoping to come. She’s hoping to come back in another week or so.”

“Yeah.”

“Have you got a hotel?”

“Yeah. Dropped me bag off,” Charlie said, unable to look away from Sara for long, but wishing to look at anything else.

“I think she’s awake,” Laurel said, trying to smile despite looking utterly exhausted. “She’s been awake a bit more today, which is good, I guess.”

“Ok,” Charlie said, unable to manage more intelligent answers.

“Do you want to see her?”

“Huh?”

“Go in and… see her. Sometimes she responds when you talk to her.”

“Ok,” Charlie said.

Laurel gave her a tight smile and opened the door. “Hey, dad. This is Sara’s friend Charlie. She’s a teacher and used to work at BA.”

“Nice to meet you,” said the man sitting by Sara’s bedside. “Sorry it couldn’t be under better circumstances. I’m Quentin.”

“Hi,” Charlie said, shaking hands with Sara’s father.

“Wanna go get some dinner, dad?”

“Hmm?”

“See the Friday nightlife.”

“Ok. Yeah, should probably get some air and some food. We’ll be back soon, sweetheart,” Quentin said, lightly kissing the back of Sara’s hand before standing up. “We’ll see you soon, Charlie.”

“Yeah,” Charlie said, standing awkwardly by the side of the bed. Laurel gave her another tight smile, and Charlie realised that was probably all she could manage. The door closed behind Laurel and Quentin. Charlie tentatively sat down in the seat where Quentin had been.

“Hi,” she said to Sara.

It took Sara a moment to focus her eyes on Charlie, but Charlie thought she saw a glimmer of recognition.

“You look like shit, just incase your family and Gideon and anyone else who’s been to see you hasn’t told you.”

The corner of Sara’s mouth twitched.

“This is fucking messed up, you know that right? Fucking hell,” Charlie exhaled, resting her head in her hands and looking at the linoleum floor.

“Yeah,” Sara breathed.

Charlie looked up. She gave Sara the best smile she could muster and looked around the room. It was cold and sterile. It had to be, of course, but it felt wrong. The small window offered a little bit of natural light, but looked directly at the building opposite. There were a couple of boxes of flowers, but even they felt somewhat artificial, despite being real flowers. Besides, Sara wasn’t a flowers person. She was a food and beverages person. With Sara’s birthday falling on Christmas Day, Charlie always combined the two, often putting together a little parcel of nice things from Fortnum and Mason for her.

“Shoulda brought you a ‘get well’ hamper from Fortnum’s,” Charlie said. “Can you eat yet?”

Sara gave a small shrug of her right shoulder.

“Well, I don’t know either,” Charlie said. “Your view’s a bit crap,” she said, turning to look out the window. “It’s a shame you can’t have river views or see the sky or…” Charlie looked back at Sara. “Do you know where you are?”

Sara looked blankly at Charlie.

“Do you know you’re in Germany?”

Sara gave a small nod.

“Do you know you’re in Mannheim?”

Another blank look.

“Do you know that you were taken to the military hospital up the road a bit, then brought here once they put you back together, because you’re not actually military, obviously? Did - did you know that?”

The look again.

“Do you know where Mannheim is?”

Sara just stared.

“You don’t know where you are,” Charlie said softly, feeling her heart drop. She’d never seen Sara looking so small and defeated, and Charlie hated how powerless she felt. No wonder Laurel looked tired. “Well, Mannheim’s about 50 minutes on the fast train south of Frankfurt. And I know you know where that is,” Charlie said, unable to think of a subject better than geography.

“Yeah,” Sara breathed.

Charlie smiled, grateful that Sara was responsive. “Yeah, well, that’s where you are. I was on BA 910. I know you know that flight. How many times have you flown that route, do you reckon? I didn’t recognise the names of either of the pilots. Sorry I can’t stay here longer. My head teacher’s been really good; I left at lunchtime today to get the flight. I’ll be around tomorrow, but won’t be able to see you on Sunday. I’m on the 11:10 back to Heathrow, so I’ve got to be on the train back to Frankfurt at half-seven at the latest.”

“K.”

“I know it’s a short stay, but better than nothing, huh?”

Sara seemed to sigh and sink further into the pillows. She was a white as the bleached hospital sheets and looked too thin and frail.

“You all right? I mean, obviously you’re not, you’re in pieces, but you’re not dead, but… you know what I’m getting at, yeah?”

Sara looked at Charlie, her usually sparkling blue eyes glassy and flat.

“Do you just want to be fucking miserable, but everyone keeps telling you how wonderful and brave you are?”

Sara looked away.

“I get it,” Charlie said. “Kinda, I guess. I’ve never been blown up, so can’t directly relate, but… I’d be fucking miserable too if I was stuck in a room like this. Not to mention that you’re full to the gills with morphine and god knows what else. The first thing you do when you go to a new place is go for a walk, yeah? I think I’ve got an idea. You mightn’t care, and I don’t even know how much of my rambling you’re even taking in, but… hang on, I can show you something now,” Charlie said, and pulled her phone out of her pocket. “One sec, got the spinning wheel while it loads. Come on, come on… here we go! Right, so, Mannheim, yep, just zoom out a little so Frankfurt is on the map too… right. We are here,” Charlie said, and turned her phone around so Sara could see the map with the little red pin on Mannheim.

“See? And if I just move the map this way a bit… there’s France. Strasbourg is just… there it is. See it?”

“Yeah,” Sara murmured, looking at the map.

“Oh, look, there’s Stuttgart. And if I zoom in more… there’s Heidelberg. It’s the next town. I’d totally go visit if I had more time. Buy you some souvenirs.”

Sara looked back at Charlie, a little more life in her eyes.

Charlie pursed her lips. “I think I’ve got an idea. I think you might too,” she smiled. “When I come back tomorrow, I’ll have a surprise, yeah?”

The door opened, and Laurel and Quentin entered.

“We bought you some dinner, Charlie,” Laurel said. “It’s a cheeseburger from the nice looking burger place around the corner from here. I hope that’s all right.”

“Yeah. Great, thanks Laurel,” Charlie said, pocketing her phone and standing up. “Umm, Quentin, you can have your chair back.”

“Thank-you for keeping it warm,” Quentin said, taking the chair. Charlie had the feeling that he may have been sleeping there. She sat down in one of the metal and plastic chairs beside Laurel, engaging in small talk while they ate. Sara closed her eyes and didn’t say anything. Once Charlie finished eating, she said goodnight and wandered back to the hotel. Sara’s family were lovely, and they clearly loved her, but it was as though they hardly knew her.

Charlie wandered through the city centre, looking at the lights and the night life, all those people out celebrating the end of the week. She went into a bar and bought a beer, using the few lines of German she was comfortable with. Thankfully, something about her demeanour seemed to stop anyone from approaching her, and once she was finished her drink, she continued back to the hotel.

It was after 3 o’clock the following afternoon when Charlie returned to the hospital. She’d been DMing Laurel on Instagram, so Laurel and Quentin were out when Charlie arrived at Sara’s room. Sara was a little more propped up than the day before. Charlie flashed a grin.

“Yeah, yeah, I know I’m later than you probably would have liked, but I've been busy. Had to get you some stuff,” she said, closing the door behind her.

Sara’s eyes fell on the brown paper bag Charlie was carrying.

“We’ll get to that soon,” Charlie said, sitting down in the armchair and placing the bag at her feet. “First up, I’ve been sight-seeing, and I gotta show you what’s around.” Charlie pulled her phone out of her pocket and opened up the photos. “Ok, one sec… here we go. Right,” she said, leaning over and resting one elbow on the bed so that they could both see the photos. “I took like a hundred pictures this morning and a half dozen videos. Full tourist mode.”

Sara looked at Charlie.

“It’s a nice city,” Charlie said. “There’s no cathedral here, but I went to the Jesuit Church and the Christ Church. Also had a quick look at the Baroque Palace, the main square, Friedrichsplatz I think it is, and a wander around the centre of town. I’m thankful for the sit-down, to be honest.”

It took Charlie close to an hour to flick through the photos. Each time they came across a video, Sara was murmur “again”, and Charlie would play it again and again, until Sara was happy for her to move on.

“So there you go,” Charlie said, pocketing her phone. “That’s what central Mannheim and it’s main sights look like.”

“Thanks,” Sara breathed, the sides of her mouth twitching in her attempt of a smile.

“No worries,” Charlie grinned. “All right, wanna see what’s in the bag?”

Sara gave a nod, and her eyes followed Charlie’s every move as she picked up the bag.

“Right,” Charlie said. “I got you a few things. First up, though, there’s no Lindt or Godiva stores in Mannheim, so I couldn’t get any of your favourites from there, sorry. In the bag is a Deutsche Bahn map of Germany, because even though it’s stylised, it’s free, and I thought I’d Blu-Tac it over that god-awful picture on the wall there,” she said, nodding towards the painting on the wall.

“Yes,” Sara said.

“Honestly, whatever charity shop they bought that from must still be laughing that anyone paid for it,” Charlie said, unfolding the map and placing it on the bed. She reached into the bag and pulled out a new packet of Blu-Tac, tearing it open and sticking some pieces on the back of the map before placing it on the wall.

“I know you can’t read it from there,” Charlie said, “But… one sec, where is it? Ah, here we go. Right,” she pulled a Sharpie out of the bag and removed the lid. “We’re down here, yeah?” she said, circling Mannheim and putting some stars around it. “Here’s Frankfurt. Here’s Cologne. Up here’s Berlin, and down over there is Munich,” Charlie said, drawing a rectangle around each of the cities. “Anywhere else you want marked?”

“No,” Sara said.

“Ok. Better than that picture?”

“Much,” Sara said, a soft smile slowly forming.

Charlie couldn’t stop smiling. “Right, next thing? It’s silly, but I saw it in the shop window, and I thought, ‘Sara could totally cos-play that’,” she reached into the bag and pulled out a Funko Pop figure of Antiope from the Wonder Woman film. “I’ll be Wonder Woman, you can be Antiope because she’s blonde like you, yeah? Also this figurine looks pretty badass. And she’s pretty badass in the actual Greek myths too. And probably bi, since she was an Amazon and liked dudes, so…”

Sara’s smile grew, and she opened up her fingers.

“Want to hold it?”

“Yeah.”

“In the box? Or want me to take it out?”

“Out.”

“No worries.” Charlie set about getting the figurine out of the box and packaging. She placed the figurine in Sara’s hand. Sara closed her fingers around it, running her thumb across the bow.

“Good,” said Sara.

Charlie forced the packaging back inside box, and placed the box on the table beside Sara’s bed.

“One more thing,” Charlie said, pulling a calendar out of the bag. “I can’t get any of my photos printed right now, and your room is fricken boring, so I thought I’d tear this apart and Blu-Tac it up.”

“Yes,” said Sara, as Charlie pulled a calendar from the bag.

“There wasn’t one specific to this area,” Charlie said, taking off the plastic wrapping, “So I just got the general Germany calendar. I figure you’ve flown or visited most of these places anyway.”

Sara watched as Charlie pulled the plastic wrapping off the calendar then set about tearing the pages in half and sticking the stock photos of scenic destinations across Germany around the room.

“That’s a bit better, innit?” Charlie asked, admiring her handiwork.

Sara smiled.

Charlie’s phone pinged.

“Ya dad and Laurel are on their way back,” Charlie said. “I might nick off, yeah? Do you wanna keep holding Antiope?”

“Yes.”

“Ok, well I’ll come back this evening. See you again before I have to go early tomorrow morning.”

“K,” Sara said and swallowed. “Thanks.”

“No worries,” Charlie said, tidying up her things. “Well, umm…” she took a deep breath, feeling oddly emotional. “Yeah. Anytime. You - the world’s still out there, Sara. I know it’s hard to tell when you’re stuck in a room like this, but… the world’s still out there and you’re still in it. You’re still here, and that means something. That means a lot.”


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ava in Star City: Part 3
> 
> Thanks everyone for all the kudos and comments, it's very much appreciated :)

Ava lay in bed, unwilling to wake Sara, who looked so peaceful when sleeping. Ava had woken up a couple of hours ago, her body still on east coast time, and had quietly made herself a cup of tea from the facilities provided in the room, but was starting to get more than a bit peckish. She had a quick look at her phone, but found it uninspiring compared to the woman beside her.

“Hey,” Ava said when Sara started to stir.

Sara’s eyes flickered open. “Hi,” she said, her voice thick with sleep. She stretched under the covers. “What’s the time?”

“Nearly nine o’clock,” Ava said, thinking it was no wonder she was hungry.

“Mmm,” Sara said, closing her eyes and stretching again.

Ava smiled. “How did you sleep?”

“Very well. I miss hotels. I didn’t know that until right now, but I really miss hotels.” Sara rolled onto her side and looked at Ava. “Hey, sorry for offloading everything onto you yesterday. I know it’s a lot, and I’d been meaning to tell you, but doing so online never felt right and - ”

“It’s fine,” Ava said. “Seriously. For what it’s worth, I’ve kind of been wanting to bring it up too, especially once I first thought that I - that it was you I evacuated.”

“When exactly did you figure that out?” Sara asked.

“The night I got home from Franklin,” Ava said, and screwed up her face.

“Ava Sharpe, all those serial killer stories have turned you into quite the detective,” Sara smiled and took Ava’s hands in hers. “Thank-you for not freaking out. I - Zari is the only person who knows the full story who I didn’t know me at the time. And now you, of course. Guess I have to tell my girlfriend.”

Ava nodded before realising what Sara had said. “Did you just call me your girlfriend?”

“Well, why not?” Sara said bashfully, lifting herself up onto her elbow. “You don’t just spill all your traumas on anyone.”

Ava giggled and rolled onto her back. “Yay!” she squeed like a teenage fangirl.

Sara laughed and leant over Ava, straddling her hips and giving her a kiss on the lips. “Come on, time to get up. I have plans for the day.”

“Really?” Ava pouted. “We can’t just stay here and cuddle?”

“I promise you’ll like what I have planned,” Sara said. “Pinky swear,” she said, holding out her pinky.

Ava laughed. “What are we, fourth graders?”

“Come on! Pinky swear that I have good plans,” Sara said.

Ava sighed dramatically and raised her hand to pinky swear with Sara.

Sara grinned and climbed off Ava and out of the bed. “My plans are so good, you don’t even need breakfast!”

Ava was a little bit apprehensive as Sara led her through the quiet early Saturday morning streets of Star City. She didn’t know Sara well enough to know what she had in mind, but any uncertainty quickly fell away when she realised that Sara seemed to know exactly what Ava would like. They went on the four hour Star City Cultural Melting Pot Food Tour, starting at a Viennese bakery-cafe with apple strudel, a doughnut with apricot jam filling, and a delicious coffee or hot chocolate. Another nine destinations followed over the remainder of the morning and into the early afternoon. The group atmosphere allowed them to talk with the others on the tour from countries as far as Singapore, Australia, Israel, and Britain, as well as a couple of other Americans, while also spending time with one another. Ava loved watching Sara interact with other people, and seeing her try new and different foods, and generally enjoying her company in a relaxed atmosphere. The tour ended at a boutique Belgian chocolate shop where they enjoyed tastings of the shop’s three specialities and was conveniently only a block from the hotel. Sara and Ava said farewell to their morning companions and returned to Ava’s room, collapsing onto the bed.

“I am so full,” Ava said.

“I don’t think I’ve eaten so much in so few hours for years,” Sara said.

Ava smiled. “That was perfect, by the way. I wish I was here longer just to go back to some of those places.”

“I’m glad you enjoyed it,” Sara said. “It surprised me too, actually. Turns out Star City has a lot of hidden culinary gems. I mean, it’s possible that those are the only ten places the Food Standards Inspectorate found to be at an average-to-acceptable level, but all the same, they were pretty good.”

“The company was good too,” Ava said, looking across at Sara.

“Yeah, it was pretty perfect,” Sara smiled softly and sat up. “Would you mind if I pop back to my dad’s for a couple of hours? I need a shower and a change of clothes. Also I may not be a wayward teenager anymore, but Dad still worries as though I am one.”

Ava smiled. “Of course. Don’t be too long, though.”

“How could I be?” Sara asked. “My girlfriend is waiting,” she said, giving Ava a kiss on the lips before sliding off the bed.

…

As she made her way back to the hotel, Sara realised how much she’d needed a little break to gather her thoughts. A quick half-hug from her dad and a steaming hot shower had relieved a lot of tension she was still holding. There were things Sara had told Ava she had never told anyone, not even the psychologist in Lexington she visited from time to time. Not even Charlie and Zari had seen her body, yet she’d felt completely comfortable stripping down to nothing in front of Ava. Ava, who had never flinched or gasped or looked away. Ava, who had cuddled her, and listened, and made her feel more comfortable than she had for years. Ava, who was flying back to Washington DC in the morning.

Sara surprised herself when she realised that her current most pressing worry wasn’t that she could be told she wasn’t fit to fly planes again, but that she might mess things up with Ava. Somehow, that felt like it would be worse.

Ten minutes later, Sara was back in Ava’s hotel room, unpacking the goodies she’d picked up along the way.

“You know I don’t need to eat for a week after that tour,” Ava said.

“Yeah, but we might get peckish later,” Sara said, putting the selection of cheeses and cold cuts, as well as a bag of M&Ms into the mini-bar fridge. She then took off her shoes and climbed onto the bed beside Ava. “You never know what activities might see us work up an appetite.”

“Oh really?” Ava asked, raising her eyebrows. “So last night was just the warm up?”

“Last night was a race to the destination. There’s a lot of stops along the way that I’d like to discover.”

Ava giggled. “How would you like to navigate? Or - I’m not sure what euphemism to use, sorry.”

Sara laughed. “Looks like we’ve still got some verbal communication to iron out, since the non-verbal is certainly off to a good start. Lucky we don’t have dinner planes.”

“Very,” Ava said, subconsciously biting her lip. Sara smelt sweet and fresh, and Ava was very eager to find out what journey Sara was hoping to take her on.

Later that evening they sat on the bed watching harmless TV, pecking at the selection of food spread out before them, both comfortable in their pyjamas and each other’s company.

“What are we watching?” Ava asked, reaching for another slice of prosciutto.

“House Hunters? One of those house flip shows? I dunno. I wasn’t really paying much attention.”

Ava grabbed the remote and hit the information button. “House Hunters Renovations.”

“I hate those tiles.”

“Your bathroom is much nicer than that.”

“Thanks,” Sara said. “Other than giving the whole place a coat of paint, renovating the bathroom is the only thing I’ve done to the house. I wanted a big shower with really good water pressure and a big bath, but I only had space for a big shower or a small bath, and figured the shower was more practical.”

“Next time I’ll have to get a room with the ensuite spa-bath,” Ava said.

“Next time?” Sara smirked, looking up at her.

“Well, I… agh, I’m inviting myself here and I don’t even - ”

“No, no, wait. I’d love you to come back. What are you doing for Thanksgiving?”

“Hanging out with Nate’s family as usual, I guess. I think Grandma Violet actually thinks I’m a relation now. I’ve discovered three safe topics to bring up with Nate’s uncle Rich if I get stuck with him that won’t end in him going off on a racist rant, and I’m pretty sure Nate said Chris has a girlfriend? So, yay for horrible teenagers dating?”

Sara laughed. “It sounds like you’ve been fully integrated into the Heywood family, then.”

“Yeah,” Ava said. “I think I have. Then I spend Christmas and New Year in Fresno with my folks.”

“Fresno’s only about a seven hour drive from here,” Sara said. “I want you to come back, is what I’m trying to say.”

“Could you come to DC?” Ava asked.

Sara sighed. “I haven’t been in a plane since… since I was brought back to America. I’m by no means afraid of flying, but I - I know I’ll set of the security buzzers. I have a steel rod, a few plates and more screws than a hardware store in my leg. But that’s not - I just… I’d really like it if you came back here,” Sara finished, unable to full articulate as to why she was uncomfortable flying.

“And I’m happy to do that,” Ava said, giving Sara a kiss on the side of her forehead.

“Sorry,” Sara mumbled. “I don’t mean to be needy.”

“But you are allowed to want things, Sara,” Ava said. “And if you want me to come back to Star City to visit, then I’ll come back. I want that too. And one day, when you’re ready to fly to wherever you want to go, I’ll be right there with you. If you want, of course.”

“I’d like that,” Sara said. “Are you going to eat all the prosciutto, or can I have the last piece? I’ll let you finish the goats cheese.”

“You finish them both, I’m opening the M&Ms,” Ava said, sliding off the bed. “Oh, those are nicer tiles they’ve chosen for the kitchen,” she said, attention back on the TV.

“Eh, a bit bland for my liking,” Sara said, taking the last of the cured meat and popping it into her mouth.

…

Ava sat in bed, propped up by the cushions flicking through the Sunday paper which she’d had delivered to the room. A cup of tea sat beside her on the bedside table to right, and Sara lay still sleeping to her left. Ava glanced at Sara as she turned the page and smiled. She could get used to this.

Time, however, was not going to allow Ava to get too used to this just yet. She’d checked her phone a few minutes ago as she did not want to be in a rush to get to the airport. Their lazy morning could last a little bit longer, but Ava had a feeling she was going to have to cut it short all the same.

Ava flicked past the business news and racing form guide, landing on the job classifieds. She was about to keep flicking when one caught her eye.

“Huh,” Ava said, looking at the small advertisement for a professional position directing the reader to a website for more information. She looked through the classifieds in more detail, and was happily surprised to see something else that might be of interest. Ava looked back at Sara.

“See something you like?” Sara asked, her voice thick with sleep.

“Well, actually, there’s two advertisements which - ”

“I meant me,” Sara smirked.

“Oh,” Ava said. “Yes,” she smiled, “Very much so.”

“Do we have to get up yet?” Sara asked.

“Not quite,” Ava said, folding up the paper and dropping it on the floor beside the bed. She lay back down and rolled over to face Sara. “We can stay here for a bit longer.”

“I don’t want you to miss your plane. I mean, I do want that, but… it’s always an administrative hassle when passengers don’t show up.”

Ava smiled. “I’ve already done the online check-in on my phone, so I can imagine that it would be a concern if I didn’t show up.”

“But we still have some time?” Sara asked, her hands finding Ava’s hips under the covers.

“About an hour before I need to go,” Ava said, “I’ll have to get dressed and pack-up my things and - ” she stopped as Sara pressed her lips to hers. Ava didn’t resist Sara’s charms for a moment.

…

“Well, I - ah, better go get on my plane,” Ava said as she and Sara loitered in the Star City Airport Domestic Terminal. Ava’s plane was boarding, and her seating zone had been called. They’d made it to the airport with enough time to get some brunch from the foodcourt.

“Thank-you for coming,” Sara said, holding Ava’s hand. “I’ve had a really great weekend. Best in a long time.”

“Me too,” Ava smiled. “I needed this, even if there is a lot of travelling involved.”

“Charlie and Zari are going to give me such a hard time when I get back to Franklin.”

“Nate will not shut up about this all week either. Oh, Zari messaged me through my podcast Insta and said you’re not really one for flowers?”

“That is correct,” Sara said. “What about you?”

“Love them,” Ava said.

“Good to know,” Sara smiled. “Message me when you get home.”

“Will do. I wish it was practical to come back next week.”

“I’m already counting the days until you can come back here,” Sara said.

The tannoy announcement went out for calling all remaining passengers for Ava’s flight.

“Have a nice flight,” Sara said after they’d shared a kiss.

“Drive safely back to Franklin.”

“Always do. See you later.”

“Thank-you again,” Ava said, pulling Sara into a hug. “For everything.”

“Always,” Sara said.

Ava reluctantly let go and joined the queue to board the plane. Sara hung around in the terminal, getting some McDonald’s chips to nibble on while she watched the planes take to the sky from the viewing window, thinking of the message in response she’d received overnight from Gideon: _Ready when you are, Ms Lance._


	15. Chapter 15

Ava was starving by time she was able to check her phone. Her morning had been full of meetings, as though by her taking Friday off had somehow thrown the office into utter chaos. There was a cute ‘good morning’ reply message from Sara which made Ava smile, and a string of rambling messages from Nate, culminating in half a dozen messages regarding lunch, and the over-exaggeration that he was wasting away while waiting for Ava. Ava sent him a quick message to meet her outside, grabbed her coat and umbrella and headed downstairs.

“I want all the news,” Nate said with a grin as Ava stepped outside. “Everything ok?” he asked, seeing Ava’s expression.

“I’m hungry, I’ve had back-to-back meetings since half-past eight, I didn’t get my mid-morning coffee, and I haven’t been able to talk to Bennett,” Ava said as they made their way towards nearest shops.

“But going to Star City to spend the weekend with Sara Lance was worth it?”

“Best weekend I’ve had in years,” Ava grumbled. “It was actually sunny.”

“Let’s get you some lunch, then I want to know every single detail. Well, maybe not every single one, because I’m guessing that you - well, I’d like to know that bits that - ”

“Nate?”

“Yes?”

“Stop talking until I eat something please.”

Nate smiled and mimed zipping his lips. Ten minutes later they were seated in a very warm food court, each with a burrito, and a bowl of hot chips to share. Nate allowed Ava to complain about her morning while they’d queued and waited for their lunch.

“So why do you want to talk to Bennett? Usually you avoid that guy like he has the plague,” Nate asked, unwrapping his burrito.

“Would you hate me if I moved to the west coast?”

“Is ‘west coast’ a substitute for Star City?” Nate asked.

“Maybe,” Ava said, busying herself with the wrapper around her burrito. “I haven’t lived there since I moved over here for college, and now…”

“Now you know Sara Lance, and she lives there.”

Ava took a big bite of her lunch to try and hide her smile. She waited until she was finished chewing before continuing. “She may have caught me look at the jobs section in the paper yesterday morning. There were two positions I thought looked ok, and I looked them up further when I got home. One’s only a twelve month contract though, so I’d say they only have twelve months worth of funding.”

“Go for it,” Nate said, his mouth half full of food. “Besides, it doesn’t matter if you don’t get a new gig straight away. If you take a redundancy package, that’ll cover you for a couple of months. I’m guessing they were government jobs?”

“One was, the other not-for-profit. I could never go corporate.”

“Tell me about it,” Nate said, stuffing his mouth with chips. “You tell Sara about this potential plan?”

“Not yet,” Ava said, “We’ll talk tomorrow.”

“Good.”

“We’re official, by the way,” Ava said, taking a few chips.

Nate almost choked on his drink. Ava laughed.

“Next time don’t drop things like that when I’ve just taken a massive drink!” Nate said, wiping his mouth with a napkin. “But, seriously!? That’s brilliant! Go Ava!”

“Yeah,” Ava grinned.

“You definitely need to tell her about the job thing. And pin Bennett down if you have to. Lock him in his room. Corner him in the men’s. You’ve got the girl, so take the package and move to Star City.”

“You really wouldn’t mind?”

“To be honest,” Nate said, “I’ve been thinking it might be time to spread my wings again myself. Other than college and those first few years afterwards in California, I’ve spent my whole life in and around Washington DC. It probably wouldn’t be terrible if I ventured out somewhere else too.”

“You’d go back to California?”

“I dunno,” Nate said, rice from his burrito falling all over his plate. “I’m in the very early ‘thinking about it’ stages. But you’ve been thinking about doing something else for a little while. Maybe this is the stars aligning and giving you an out.”

“Maybe,” Ava said, taking a few more chips.

“Ok,” Nate said. “Back to the main topic: you and Sara Lance.”

“You have sauce on your face.”

Nate grabbed a napkin and wiped his mouth. “Well? What’s she like? What did you do? Start from Friday when you arrived. Feel free to skip over the sexy parts, which clearly happened because you are glowing, Ava Sharpe, but I do not need the specifics.”

Ava took a sip of her drink and smiled. “She took me to a nice restaurant, we went for a walk, went on a food tour and ah… I’ll give you the long version of what I can.”

“Good idea,” Nate said with a grin, grabbing a few more chips and getting comfortable.

…

Sara stayed an extra night at her dad’s place in Star City before driving back to Franklin on Monday. As soon as she stepped in the door, she got a message from Charlie inviting her to dinner, no doubt because Charlie and Zari wanted all the gossip immediately. Not much happened in Franklin, so Sara couldn’t blame them.

A couple of hours later, Sara could smell Zari cooking saffron rice and meatballs for dinner as she approached their house.

“Something smells delicious,” Sara said, letting herself in.

“Twenty dollars, Zari!” Charlie said, jumping up so fast she frightened one of their cats. They’d adopted two kittens at the beginning of the year, ginger tabby who Charlie named Apollo, and his silver tabby sister named Artemis, who had grown into very affectionate cats. 

“She literally just walked into the house,” Zari said. “Hi Sara.”

“Hi Zari. What are you betting on?” Sara asked, taking off her coat and hanging it over the back of one of the kitchen chairs.

“You had mad-hot sex,” Charlie said.

Sara smirked.

“Told you!” Charlie grinned. “Pay up!”

“Do you want delicious dinner, or for me to pay?”

“Why, because there’s twenty dollars worth of saffron in there?”

“Exactly,” Zari said. “And just because Sara’s smiling - ”

“It’s the swagger,” Charlie said, getting out the bowls and cutlery. “There’s a slight spring in her step that Sara gets if the sex was satisfactory, then the full swagger she has for about a week if it was well-good. I haven’t see you with that swagger since you hooked up with that American doctor back in London, Cap.”

Sara chuckled. “Sorry, Zari, but she’s right. Ava and I had a very nice time in Star City.”

“Details?”

“Dinner’s ready,” Zari said.

“Details later,” Charlie said with a wink.

At the end of the meal, feeling very full and content after third helpings and a few glasses of wine, Sara caught Charlie’s eye.

“I messaged Gideon,” Sara said, feeling her heart rate rise at the confession. If it hadn’t been for the wine, she certainly would have kept it to herself.

“Oh, she’ll love this,” Charlie said, finishing the last mouthful from her glass. “Not that Gideon’s ever short on rumour and scandal, but being amongst the first to know that Sara Lance is officially off the market and has scored herself a girlfriend - ”

“I don’t mean that,” Sara said, “Though I did tell her that too. I - not yet, but I… I asked her.”

“What did she say?” Charlie asked, her eyes wide.

“About what?” Zari asked.

“They’re ready when I am,” Sara answered.

“Yep, still not following,” Zari said.

“Are you?” Charlie asked.

“Not yet,” said Sara.

“But you asked her,” Charlie grinned.

Sara nodded.

“That’s brilliant, Sara. Have you told Ava?”

“How about you explain to me, who is right here but seemingly invisible,” Zari said.

“Sara messaged Gideon about doing the medical to get clearance to become a pilot again,” Charlie said.

“Oh,” said Zari. “That’s great. Have you told Ava?”

“Not yet,” Sara said. “It’s not like I set a date or anything. I just - I asked Gideon if it was a possibility to do it at all and - I don’t know.”

“She wouldn’t’ve said yes if she didn’t have it on fairly good authority from someone who knows your background that you’d pass.”

“You definitely need to talk to Ava, though,” Zari said.

“This is good news, Cap. You’re allowed to tell people.”

“I know,” Sara said. “I will, I - I’m not ready to do it yet, though. To take the test, I mean. Ava and I will talk tomorrow. I’ll tell her then.”

“You gunna tell her that dating her for twenty-four hours made you brave enough to ask something you’ve been putting off for the past two years? That you’ve smiled more and been more animated since meeting her than you have been for the past three?”

“Save the sappy stories for their wedding, babe,” Zari smirked, patting Charlie’s leg.

…

“Hi,” Sara smiled as Ava popped up on the screen. “Long time no see.”

“Hi,” Ava said. “I wish I could give you a hug right now.”

“Jump on a plane. You’ll be here by morning.”

“I wish that was more practical than it is,” Ava said.

“Tough day?” Sara asked.

“Tough two days,” Ava said. “Though I finally spoke to Director Bennett today about the voluntary redundancy. He had no idea that I was considering it.”

“What did he say?”

“Something along the lines of my job is safe, so why bother? What else would I do, and where would I get another job? That sort of patronising thing.”

“Where would you look for a new job?” Sara asked. “Any other agencies or departments take your fancy?”

“Well, there were those two jobs in Star City that I saw in paper on Sunday,” Ava said.

Sara’s eyes widened. “Really? You’d really come here?”

“That wouldn’t be too weird, would it?” Ava asked. “Or too soon or - ”

“No, that would be brilliant,” Sara smiled. “Make it easier to get a hug, even if it is still a four-hour drive from Star City to Franklin. But, umm… I did something too that you need to know.”

“What do you mean?” Ava asked.

Sara adjusted how she was sitting. “The other day - you had gone to the bathroom - and I was so… I was so happy, and you make me feel so confident and… safe, and I…” Sara looked at the wallabove her MacBook. She almost wanted to close the screen and forget all about it, but she’d come this far. “I messaged Gideon about doing the medical to fly again. I - I’ve been putting it off for two years, and…” Sara trailed off.

“So you’re moving back to London?” Ava asked.

“What? No,” Sara said. “I’m not explaining this very well. It would be better if you were here,” she mumbled.

“Take your time,” Ava said, smiling encouragingly.

“Hang on,” Sara said. She stood up and raced into her bedroom, returning a few seconds later zipping up her puffer vest. It took Ava a moment before she recognised it as the one she’d borrowed when she’d been stranded in Franklin.

“Ok,” Sara continued. “So, about two years ago I was given a clean bill of health by my doctor, which gave me the opportunity to do the medical test to get clearance to fly again. I didn’t contact anyone at BA or make any effort for the reasons I told you the other day. But on Saturday, I - it’s taken me two years to ask Gideon if she thinks I even could or should do it. And she said that they’re ready when I am. Which means she’s pretty sure I’ll pass it, but she’s not a doctor, and…” Sara sighed and wrapped her arms around herself.

“So this is a big step?” Ava asked.

Sara nodded. “It’s a slow one though. I - I can’t set myself a time frame, because it doesn’t work like that. I can’t say that after New Year’s I’ll be ready, or by next summer, or next winter, or ever. But being with you made me feel like it might be possible to one day try again.”

“God, I wish I was there right now. Babe, that - thank-you for telling me. Whenever you’re ready, I - I wanna be the person who’s there for you, Sara.”

“Ha. Don’t you see?” Sara said with a smile, “You already are. You always have been, even when neither of us knew, it was always you.”

Ava smiled, wishing more than anything she could be there with Sara. Talking to her made her feel that applying for those jobs in Star City was the right thing to do. Even if she was unsuccessful, it was worth the try. “Wanna come join me in my kitchen while I make dinner?” Ava asked.

“Lead the way,” Sara smiled. “You might give me some inspiration for mine.”

Ava picked up her laptop and walked into the kitchen, placing it on the bench and adjusting the screen.

“Nice kitchen,” Sara said.

“Thanks,” Ava said. “Do you like cooking shows?”

“Is this going to become one?” Sara asked.

“For the next little bit,” Ava said. “I was thinking Thai Fried Rice. It involves a lot of cutting up, then a very quick cooking time. And some delicious leftovers for tomorrow.”

“Cooking With Ava is definitely something I’d prefer over Serial Killers With Ava.”

“My podcast is called StabCast,” Ava said, pulling a knife out of the block with a flourish.

Sara laughed. “I know. And was that one purpose or just good timing?”

“Bit of both,” Ava grinned, putting down the knife and grabbing a peeler. “I genuinely need this knife.”

Again they spoke for hours, Ava eventually having to go to get ready for bed. Sara tidied up her kitchen, Ava having talked her through how to make the same Thai Fried Rice recipe that she had made. As promised, there had been leftovers, which Sara was happy about.

Now that the call was over, Sara noticed that she kept going to speak to Ava, only to remember that she wasn’t there, either in person or on the screen. Ava, who was willing to move to Star City to be closer to her, to support her in whatever she ended up doing with her career. Sara put away the last of the dishes and grabbed her phone.

 **Sara:** Thanks for the chat, especially the stuff about flying.

 **Ava:** Anytime ❤️

 **Sara:** 😊  
 **Sara:** Have a good sleep.

 **Ava:** You too xxx

 **Sara:** xxxxxx


	16. Chapter 16

Ava formally accepted the voluntary redundancy, and applied for both the jobs in Star City. Taking the redundancy meant that it wasn’t an issue if it took a couple of months for her to get a new job, but she was pleasantly surprised when she was asked for an interview for both positions in Star City.

“That’s amazing, babe!” Sara grinned when Ava told her about the interviews over FaceTime. “I’m so excited for you.”

“I haven’t got the job yet,” Ava said, still occasionally having doubts about a cross-country move despite having almost nothing keeping her in DC. She was equal parts excited, nervous and relieved about having resigned from the Office of National Emergency. Her parents were delighted at the idea of her moving back to California after so long, not to mention the huge benefit of being closer to Sara. It was times like now when she was starting to doubt herself that having Sara’s confidence and self-assuredness around would be very beneficial.

“I bet you’ll get an offer for both,” Sara said. “Which one would you choose?”

“Let’s see how the interviews go first, please babe,” Ava said, grateful that Sara’s excitement was infectious even through the computer screens. “I’m just glad they’re happy to interview me via Zoom.”

“I wouldn’t complain if they wanted you to fly out,” Sara said with a smirk. “Do you finish have a finish date at the Office of National Emergency?”

“The end of the first week of December. I’ve already started delegating, or figuring out how I will divide up my tasks and responsibilities. Thanksgiving with Nate’s family will be strange, since his dad is kind of my boss. Hank knows I’ve taken the redundancy, but - well… it’ll still be strange.”

“If you need a get-out-of-jail-free card at any time, just send me a message and I’ll call.”

Ava chuckled, “You’re the best.”

“Oh, I know,” Sara said. “So, what’s your dinner party speciality? You’re asked to bring a plate - what’s on it?”

“Snickerdoodles,” Ava said. “Dorothy, Nate’s mom, always asks if I’d like to bring something, knowing that I’ll bring those. We eat them mid-afternoon, after the turkey’s finished brining and has been in the oven for about an hour, which usually also coincides with either quarter-time or half-time in the football. Passing around the snickerdoodles helps pass the time.”

“Sounds like you’ve got some real traditions set up there,” Sara said.

“I guess so,” Ava said. “I felt super awkward the first year I went, but now it’s like I’m one of the family. What will you do?” she asked, feeling more comfortable as the conversation moved away from jobs and on to Sara’s Thanksgiving plans and funny tales of Thanksgivings past.

Due to the time difference between the East and West Coasts, Ava was able to do the interviews from her office at home in the evening. Even though the interviewers could only see her from the waist up, she still wore dress pants and heels, though she did take a photo of herself in her full-length mirror to send to Sara, so the effort wasn’t fully wasted. The effect of the photo however meant that Sara had launched into a string of texts about Regular Small Town Sara and she wanted to do with Hot Boss Lady Ava.

**Ava:** Going to have the interview now. I am leaving my phone on the charger in the kitchen.

**Sara:** Can I continue my story? 😏

**Ava:** Yes, please 😇

**Sara:** Give you something to look forward to when you’re done 😉

**Ava:** Yes  
 **Ava:** Don’t you have work to do?

**Sara:** Not really. We’re in the clouds here in Franklin today. I’m working from home, so story-telling is quite ok 😏  
 **Sara:** Best of luck with the interview 🤞❤️

**Ava:** Thanks. Talk soon ❤️

**Sara:** 😘  
 **Sara:** Ok, here comes the rest of the story:  
 **Sara:** As usual, Hot Boss Lady Ava was wearing matching French lingerie, today’s ensemble being a particularly pretty set by Simone Pérèle.   
**Sara:** Unbeknownst to Hot Boss Lady Ava, Regular Small Town Sara was not wearing her usual sports bra and boy-shorts under her plaid shirt and puffer vest, but a lacy black bodysuit, laced up at the front like a corset.

Ava quickly left her phone alone after that message, unable to get distracted by Sara’s story until she had time to herself later on. It gave her confidence knowing that even if the interview went completely wrong, someone out there still loved her enough to be sending ridiculous sexy stories via text.

…

By the following week Ava had had both of the interviews, and was now nervously awaiting confirmation of whether or not she’d been accepted for either of the positions.

“Have you spoken to any realtors?” Nate asked on Monday as they walked through the park at lunchtime. The sun was shining, and though it did little to warm the air it was pleasant all the same.

“About my place here or getting something in Star City?” Avas asked.

“Both?”

“I’ve briefly looked at a couple here,” Ava said. She’d decided to rent out her townhouse in Washington DC and rent an apartment in Star City. The rent from the DC house would easily cover the Star City rent, and possibly even leave her a little better off. She was grateful she didn’t have to sell her townhouse and that Nate would be around to drive past it every so often to check up on it. A modern, two bedroom townhouse in her neighbourhood would be snapped up by renters in no time, so Ava wasn’t worried about it being on the market for long. “But until I know if or when I’m moving, it’s hard to give exact dates or price ranges or…”

“You booked the U-Haul people to move your stuff across the country?” Nate asked, ignoring Ava’s sensible explanations as to why she was delaying progress.

“Until I actually get a job offer, Nate…”

“You’re not moving! I got it, I got it,” Nate chuckled. “If I told you six months ago that you’d be picking up your life and moving across the country for a girl, you never would have believed me.”

“It’s not just for a girl,” Ava said.

“It’s 95% for a girl,” Nate teased, nudging Ava with his elbow.

“Well, maybe she’s a girl worth picking up my life and moving across the country for.”

“You are so whipped.”

Ava shoved Nate.

Nate laughed. “I call dibs on being the best man at your wedding. I have a track record of being the best pick for best man for a very solid relationship.”

Ava laughed and shook her head. “I’ve met her on two occasions, Nate.”

“Yeah, and the first time you slept at her house, and the second time you slept with her. And the sex must have been good since you - ”

Ava pushed Nate again. Nate just laughed and wrapped his arm around Ava’s shoulders as they carried on walking.

…

Moving across the country the week before Christmas was not the smartest idea, Ava decided when she arrived in Star City with two suitcases full of winter clothes, her most precious possessions and a few essential items. The rest of her furniture, clothing and household goods were being hauled across the country in a U-Haul truck. Star City airport was extremely busy, and Sara wasn’t able to come to the city for a couple more days. In a way, Ava was glad as it would give her some time to settle into her apartment herself and unpack her things without distraction, but even though she’d been to Star City once before, this time it was permanent, and she did secretly wish Sara had been waiting in the arrivals area to greet her.

Ava’s new job as a Project Lead at the International Trade Administration started days after New Year public holidays were over, giving her plenty of time to settle in, as well as visit her parents down in Fresno for Christmas. Her parents were ecstatic that she had moved back to California, and were already planning a road trip to Star City to visit Ava in her new home city in January once the festive crowds had settled down. Ava stressed that the job was only a one-year contract, so she might not be in California forever. They’d had a lot of questions about Ava’s new job, especially as being a Project Lead sounded like a step-down from being Deputy Director. Ava had explained that the pay grade was the same, and different departments liked to use different titles for similar jobs. As far as Ava could tell, the day-to-day work would be similar, and she’d still be overseeing a team, only instead of bouncing from one crisis to the next the way she had at the Office of National Emergency, here they had twelve months to complete one project. Ava liked the idea of being able to set a timeline for the year and stick to it, at least for the most part.

Everything was sorted, Ava thought as she dragged her suitcases across the concourse to the taxi ranks. New job, new house, new city. Her townhouse in DC had been rented out on a twelve-month lease within 48 hours of being listed, and Sara’s contacts in Star City had been able to find Ava what on paper looked like a very nice apartment for her to rent for the year.

The cab ride to her new apartment through the city traffic was slow, but the doorman was polite and happy to help with Ava’s bags while she paid for the cab. The doorman had been informed that she’d be arriving today, and had her keys and paperwork in an envelope in his small office. Ava grateful for his assistance and found her way up to her new place on level 12. She let herself in a looked around. The building was fairly new, and apartment came with basic furniture; couches and coffee table, a table with six chairs, two bar stools at the kitchen island bench, a queen-sized bed-base and bedside tables. The wardrobes were built-in, there was a rack on the wall to mount the TV on in the living area, and a number of picture hooks in the walls. The views across the city and waterfront were great, and the window blinds were neutral and practical. All in all, Ava was happy with the place, and thought it felt like a serviced hotel-apartment.

With a smile, she sent Sara a quick message saying that she’d arrived, followed by one to her mom and one to Nate, then set about unpacking her suitcases, praying that the U-Haul truck with the rest of her things would arrive today. Ava was almost done with the first suitcase when there was a knock at the door.

“Good,” she said, standing up. She went to the door and opened it, revealing not the U-Haul guys she had gotten to know when packing up her place in DC, but a scrawny teenager in a big, puffy coat.

“Delivery for Ava Sharpe?” he said, thrusting a large box at her.

“Umm, thanks,” Ava said, taking the box.

“Yep,” said the youth, disappearing down the hallway.

The box was lighter than Ava had expected, and she took it to the kitchen table to investigate. Ava ripped the box open, and pulled out a modern arrangement of dried flowers in autumnal hues in a lovely off-white vase. There was a note attached.

_Dear Ava,_  
_Welcome to Star City. These should last a long time. See you in a couple of days.  
_ _Love from Sara_

Ava grabbed her phone and called Sara. “Babe, these are beautiful! They automatically make the the place look more like a home than a hotel room.”

“What do they look like? It’s always hard to know what you’re ordering when you do it online,” Sara said.

“Oh, I’ll hang up and call you straight back on FaceTime,” Ava said.

“Good idea,” Sara said.

Ava hung up and called back. “Look, babe! They’re really gorgeous!” she said, holding the camera to the flowers.

“Those are nice,” Sara smiled. “And they should last for months.”

“They should last all year! They’re a lovely surprise. I’ve been feeling a bit stressed, and these are just… well, I feel very loved.”

Sara grinned. “Show me around the apartment,” she said.

“My room’s a bit of a mess,” Ava said. “And the U-Haul guys aren’t here yet, so at this rate I’m sleeping on the couch tonight.”

“Oh no!” Sara laughed. “It’s ok, it’s only just past three, I’m sure they’re just caught up in traffic. Nice kitchen.”

“Thanks. I hope so too, I miss my stuff. It’s been on the road for a week,” Ava said.

She gave Sara a quick tour of the apartment, before Sara needed to go and do some work, and Ava returned to her unpacking. She’s emptied both suitcases, finding homes for everything in the wardrobe and bathroom, and was contemplating heading out to the supermarket for supplies when the U-Haul guys arrived. The remained of the afternoon and evening were flat-out as Ava got the bedroom sorted out as best she could. At long last she decided that was all she was going to accomplish for now, and went down to the lobby to ask the doorman which take-out places nearby were worthy of her patronage. She needed to get something for dinner, because before bed she was determined to unpack the box marked ‘Christmas’.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Christmas: Part 1. 
> 
> Thank-you for all the comments and kudos. Your continuing support is much appreciated :)

“I’ve been trying to come up with some snazzy line about following the star to the east, but Star City is to the west of here, and I got nothing,” Sara said, letting herself into Zari’s office. The sun was finally pushing away the last of the fog and low clouds, and Sara knew it was going to be a lovely winter afternoon.

“You can just say ‘I’m leaving now, bye,’” Zari said, looking up from her computer.

“Where’s the fun in that?” Sara smiled. “But I am leaving now.”

“Message me when you get there,” Zari said, pushing back her chair and standing up. “What date are you coming back?”

“On the 25th,” Sara said. “Tell Charlie to save me a plate.”

“There’s going to be no problems with that. Did she send you a picture of the turkey she bought in Lexington?” Zari asked. “How many people does she think we’re feeding? We’ll save you a week’s worth of plates, that’s how much leftovers we’re going to have.”

Sara chuckled. “That turkey takes up half your fridge by the looks of the photo.”

“And I’m the one who has to cook it!” Zari said. “Charlie’s got a few good side-dishes she can make, but she always dries out the turkey then drowns it in gravy.”

“Does she claim it’s tradition?”

“Yes!” Zari exclaimed. “What is with that?”

“That sounds about right,” Sara said, thinking of some of the over-cooked roast turkeys she’d eaten while living in London. “Well, I better head off. I want to get as far as I can before it gets dark.”

“At least it’s sunny for now. Say hi to Ava for us,” Zari said with a smirk.

“Will do. She’s meeting my dad,” Sara said.

“What?! Sara! You hadn’t told us that!”

“We’re having lunch tomorrow.”

“Does Ava know?”

“Obviously. Ava is very organised. She doesn’t like having things sprung on her, and I’m not about to surprise her with my dad.”

“I am messaging Charlie right now,” Zari said, grabbing her phone.

Sara laughed. “Well, I’m leaving. I’ll see you in a few days.”

“Drive safe, have a good few days with Ava,” Zari said, giving Sara a hug.

“Oh, I plan to,” Sara said. “You’re in charge until I get back.”

“I always am,” Zari said. “See you soon, Sara.”

Sara gave a mock salute and left the airport. Her bag was already in her car and she was happy to hit the road straight away. Sara surprised herself by finding it strangely thrilling to be heading to Star City a few days before Christmas. She’d made this trip countless times, knowing exactly which towns to stop in to stretch her legs and grab a bite to eat, but this time the drive across the state felt special. This time Ava would be waiting for her, in her new apartment. Sara smiled as the sun peeked through the pine trees. It had been a few years since she’d last enjoyed this time of year, but this year she could feel a little bit of festive spirit bubbling away inside of her.

…

Ava had been waiting all day for Sara’s arrival. She knew Sara wouldn’t leave Franklin until lunchtime, and anxiously awaited Sara’s a text message saying she was on her way, feeling her heart skip a beat when the “leaving now 😘🎄” message come through just after Ava had had lunch. Ava spent the afternoon rearranging some of her items, as after a couple of days she had decided that she didn’t like where she’d originally put them. While moving around some of her books, a piece of paper which had been sandwiched between them for safe keeping fell to the floor. Ava picked it up and smoothed it out, looking at the slightly crumpled map of Franklin, California. She wondered what to do with it, as it was somehow much to important to her to throw out. Would Sara think it was silly that she had kept it? Ava folded the map up again and decided to keep it in the draw beside her bed, the creased map becoming a sort of good luck charm to her.

Ava returned to the living-dining-kitchen room and examined it, hands on her hips. Her Christmas tree looked a little small, and usually Ava liked to have much more decoration in her house, but having only just moved in and with plans to be going to Fresno in a couple of days, this year was going to have to be a little be lighter on the seasonal decorations and everything was plastic, not real. The apartment was now only missing one thing.

Ava was so excited when there was a knock at the door. She opened it to see Sara standing before her, with her overnight bag in her hand, her hair tied in a high pony-tail and her duffle coat looking just a little too big around the shoulders.

“Happy new house!” Sara grinned.

“I missed you,” Ava said, pulling Sara into a hug as she stepped into the apartment.

“I missed you too,” Sara said, dropping her bag on the floor to hold Ava properly. “Hi,” she said after a moment of taking in Ava’s warmth and smell.

“Hi,” Ava said, giving Sara a kiss on the lips.

“I missed that, too,” Sara said.

Ava smiled, picking up Sara’s bag with one hand and taking Sara’s hand with the other. “I’ll show you around. Not that there’s much to see, but - ”

“Wow, check out that view!” Sara said, as they emerged from the narrow entrance hall into the main living-dining-kitchen space where the lights from the Christmas tree were already shining and reflecting off the glass. There were cushions and throw rugs on the couches, prints hanging from the wall, and a couple of essential items sitting on the kitchen bench, making the apartment look much more personal.

“Yeah, it’s pretty good. I like that I can see the water.”

“That’s awesome,” Sara said. “You’ve got everything set up pretty quickly.”

“It’s been a busy couple of days,” Ava said. “But I’ve been here alone with not much else to do, and I hate leaving jobs half-done.”

“Are you secretly Supergirl, babe?” Sara asked. “Or the Flash? Unpacking all my stuff would take me weeks.”

Ava laughed. “In there is the second bedroom, now my office room,” Ava said, using her foot to push open the door to the smaller bedroom. “That door there is for the second bathroom. And this is the master suite,” she said, leading them into the bedroom and placing Sara’s bag at the end of the bed.

“Very nice,” Sara smiled, looking at the immaculately made bed, complete with half a dozen pillows and cushions and a soft blanket draped artfully across the end. “Great views again. And a balcony.”

“And an ensuite,” Ava said.

“That’s a nice big shower,” Sara said, getting ideas.

“There’s a bath in the other bathroom.”

“Really?”

“Yep. And I haven’t used it yet,” Ava said.

Sara bit her lip. “Well, maybe we’ll have to try it out later on.”

Ava giggled. “So, for dinner I’ve got all the ingredients for us to make pita-bread pizzas. I’m still getting the hang of the oven, and I thought it would be nice to make them together.”

“That would be very nice,” Sara said, taking off her coat and dropping it on top of her bag.

They re-entered the kitchen area, and Ava started getting out the ingredients while Sara found where the glasses were kept and got herself a drink of water.

“So, I didn’t get you a housewarming gift because I don’t know what you need, and I didn’t want to get you something that you wouldn’t use or already had.”

“Oh, I don’t need anything,” Ava said. “Plus you sent me those flowers.”

“I don’t need an occasion to buy flowers for my girlfriend,” Sara said. “What about new towels? Those big bath sheet ones.”

“I do like those,” Ava said.

Sara smiled. “Good. Well, when we go shopping tomorrow, I’ll get you some.”

“Some?”

“Two. One for you, and one for me.”

“And why are we going shopping tomorrow?” Ava asked.

“Christmas shopping, obviously,” Sara said.

“You leave your Christmas shopping until the 22nd December?” Ava asked, a little alarmed.

“This is early for me, and besides, Franklin isn’t exactly renowned as a shopping destination.”

Ava shook her head. “Ok, we can go shopping tomorrow.”

“Did you have other plans?” Sara asked. “I’m happy to - ”

“No, I want to go with you,” Ava said. “I’m guessing we’ll be lunching with your dad in between dealing with your fellow disorganised masses? You do know that online shopping is a thing?”

“Well I didn’t know that you needed towels until just now. Come on, it’ll be fun.”

“Shopping in large cities three days before Christmas isn’t renowned for being fun, babe, but ok, fine,” Ava said.

“Yay!” Sara grinned. “Also, you’d be getting no gifts if I didn’t go tomorrow.”

“I don’t mind.”

“Well, I do,” Sara said. “Wait - have you already got something for me?”

“Maybe,” Ava said with a smile. “I’m sure I can find something to add to it, though.”

“You U-Hauled my Christmas gift across the country?”

“Yes,” Ava said with a shrug.

“Ava Sharpe,” Sara said, sliding off the bar stool and sauntering around the other side of the kitchen island bench to where Ava was spreading tomato paste on the pizza bases. “What do you want for Christmas?”

“You,” Ava said, giving Sara a kiss on the side of the head.

“All right, Mariah Carey, but you’re getting me in the bath after dinner anyway,” Sara said, wrapping her arms around Ava’s waist. “What else?”

“I don’t know, babe,” Ava said, “I’ll love anything you give me.”

Sara started kissing Ava on the neck.

“No - not a - babe! Not that. Here,” Ava laughed, pushing Sara off her. “Cut the peppers, please.”

“You said you’d love anything.”

“Dinner first, then that,” Ava said, busying herself with the cheese.

Sara lowered her voice, “Or we could have entree in the bathroom first…”

“No, I - babe. I have a plan and I would like to stick to it, please.”

“Fine,” Sara said, twirling the knife in her hand in a way that Ava found a little alarming, “Pizzas for _primi_ , Ava for _secondi._ ”

They enjoyed their dinner with half a bottle of wine, then quickly tidied up in order to relocate to the bathroom. They were careful in the unfamiliar setting, especially as the bath wasn’t overly large, but Ava realised that Sara was just as talented underwater as she was above, as it were. Ava couldn’t help but wonder if Sara was also a member of the Mile High Club, but was too distracted to ask. Afterwards, Ava dressed quickly while Sara mucked about with the hairdryer.

“Aww, those are cute!” Ava said as Sara appeared from the bedroom some minutes later in green and red tartan-patterned flannelette pyjamas with a red satin trim.

Sara smiled. “Dad had them sent to me in Franklin because he wanted me to wear them before Christmas. I thought you might appreciate them.”

“I love them,” Ava said, wrapping her arms around Sara as Sara plopped onto the couch beside her. “They’re really soft too. Your dad has good taste in pyjamas.”

“I’ll let him know you think so,” Sara said, tucking her feet under the blanket. “What are we watching?”

“A Mary Berry Christmas show from a couple of years ago. I think this year’s one will be on tomorrow.”

“Mary Berry is the best,” Sara said, “I used to watch Bakeoff from time to time back in London, and I reckon I saw every episode from every season twice on BBC America when I was in hospital back here. Charlie met her once at Heathrow. I wish I could have flown her somewhere.”

“Charlie seems to have met everyone,” Ava said.

Sara chuckled. “The list of people she didn’t meet while working for BA is definitely smaller than the list of those she did. Oh, I just got comfortable, but now I want snacks.”

“There’s a bag of M&Ms in the fridge,” Ava said.

“Perfect,” Sara said, standing up again. “I’m definitely going to have to try and find a massive tin of Quality Street’s tomorrow though. You have to try the Purple One. And the Green Triangle.”

“What?”

“They’re famous British chocolates. I’m sure one of the department stores here will sell them,” Sara said, getting the bag of M&Ms out of the fridge and tip-toeing back across the cold floor to Ava’s side. Ava took the M&Ms and opened the bag as Sara snuggled back under the blankets.

“I’m going to enjoy getting used to this,” Sara said, taking a handful of M&Ms while Mary Berry chatted quietly in the background about the perfect roast potato.

“This?” Ava asked.

“Us,” Sara smiled, giving Ava a kiss on the cheek.


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Christmas: Part 2

It took Ava a moment to get her bearings when she woke up. The space beside her in the bed was empty, but still fairly warm. She could hear music, and it seemed to be shuffle between pop and Christmas songs. Ava reached for her phone and checked the time. Half-past seven. Her body was finally beginning to adapt to West Coast time. She sat up and spotted Sara’s pyjamas dropped on the floor, and her bag looking as though it had exploded, with assorted bits of clothing strewn all over the place. Ava smiled and shook her head. She climbed out of bed and went to see what Sara was up to.

“I’m nearly finished. Five more minutes,” Sara said, wearing leggings and a t-shirt while doing HIIT routine in the middle of the living area, having pushed the coffee table aside.

Ava rubbed her eyes and yawned. “I’ll make the coffee. You are way too energetic in the morning, babe.”

“It gets me moving,” Sara said, taking a breath between rotations and lying down to do up-down planks.

“Literally,” Ava said, getting out the coffee plunger out of the cupboard. “Eggs on toast for breakfast?”

“Yes, please,” Sara said. “I like mine runny.”

“And tomato? I don’t have any bacon, but I do have half an avocado left,” Ava said, looking in the fridge at what she wanted to use before she went to Fresno for a few days.

“Sounds good,” Sara puffed.

They took their time having breakfast and getting ready before heading out into the madness of Star City’s main shopping district. Their first stop was Sink, Shower ’N’ Stuff where Sara insisted on buying Ava fancy towels. Thankfully it wasn’t too busy as they were fairly early and not many people were out buying homewares.

“Which style, babe? The one with the squares, or just the regular one? And in white? Or the charcoal colour, or ‘natural’, which isn’t a real colour name. Ooh, are these blue ones the same? Oh, they’re a different brand. How about these old-lady-pink ones? Apparently this colour is called ‘blossom’,” Sara said, checking the label.

“Whichever ones you like, babe,” Ava said, highly amused at seeing Sara choosing towels. Somehow, this seemed a long way from her native habitat. “The bathroom is very neutral, so if you want the blue ones…”

“That’s not a very nice blue though, but they are soft. That green is ugly. White is too hospitally. Oh, this is nicer. ‘Orient blue’. Do you like it with the textured lines?”

“That’s fine with me,” Ava said, thinking that the grey-blue towels would look quite nice in the otherwise rather stark white ensuite.

“Ok, so we need two of those, two face cloths, a bath mat, and a hand-towel. That should do it,” Sara said, putting the towels into the basket Ava was holding. “To the check-out queue!”

Ava chuckled and followed her to the check-out. “Where to next?” she asked as they waited behind a woman with a questionably large number of vegetable peelers and nothing else in her basket.

“It’s still an hour before we’re meeting up with dad,” Sara said, checking the time as the queue shuffled forwards, someone trying to pay with four different gift cards holding everyone else up. “I would like to go to the department store because hopefully they have Quality Streets.”

“We’ll be queuing in there for hours,” Ava said.

“That’s ok,” Sara said, leaning into Ava, “I don’t mind queuing with you.”

Ava didn’t have a comeback for that.

Though it took a while of battling with crowds and waiting in yet more queues, Sara managed to find everything she wanted. After finishing in the department store, and noting that Ava was starting to get frazzled by the crowds, Sara declared they could go Big Belly Burger early and find a table and maybe even order, as Sara knew what her dad liked, and she had a feeling that it was going to be just as busy and just as seemingly understaffed as everywhere else.

Ava was grateful to sit-down once they reached the casual restaurant, tucking the bag from Sink, Shower ’N’ Stuff under her feet. Being early meant they were given a booth, but as suspected, the service was slow.

“Umm, Sara?” Ava asked. “I’m not quite sure how to ask this, and please don’t take this the wrong way or anything but your dad does know I’m your girlfriend, right? He knows that we’re not just friends?”

“Oh yeah,” Sara said with a smile. “He knows. Sorry, I should have said. He’s cool with it. At least, I’m pretty sure he is and I’ve never got the feeling from him that he isn’t.”

“He was all good when you came out?”

“I never really came out as such,” Sara said. “I just got a girlfriend, and well… I was already living in London, so physical distance was a thing too. We never talked about me being into girls. It was just a thing, he accepted it and we moved on.”

“You never came out?” Ava asked.

“Is it weird that I didn’t properly realise I was bi until I moved the London? I’d had crushes on girls, but I thought they were just ‘girl crushes’,” Sara said, doing the air quotes. “I think that because I knew I liked boys it made things more confusing. When watching _Pirates of the Caribbean_ I didn’t know if I wanted to be like Elizabeth, to be Elizabeth, or to be with Elizabeth. Same with Rose in _Titanic_.”

“Do you have a thing for girls in period dramas?” Ava asked with a smile, tilting her head to the side.

“Maybe,” Sara said, “Though my teenage-self didn’t know to put it like that. I don’t think my teenage-self knew much about bisexuality at all. It’s not like it’s covered at school, media representation at the time was practically non-existent, and since I was clearly boy-crazy, I don’t think it crossed anyone’s mind, even my own. I kissed a couple of girls at college parties, but I was completely hammered so it doesn’t count much.”

“So how did you figure it out?” Ava asked.

“Leo kinda outed me to myself? We were still doing pilot training, so I’d only known him a couple of months. He must have caught me staring a lot more than once, because one day he said words to the effect of ‘your taste is women is exemplary, so why is your taste in men so deplorable?’ I think something about my expression made him realise that I’d never thought about myself like that. Over the next few weeks and months he helped everything become very clear. I want to know how you figured it out too, but there’s my dad,” Sara said, standing up and waving to her father.

Quentin came over to the booth and gave Sara a big hug and Ava a hearty handshake, as Sara had told him that Ava wasn’t the most physical person with those she wasn’t familiar with.

“I’m very glad you meet you, Ava,” Quentin said, sitting down. “I’ve heard a lot about you. All good things, of course.”

“Thank-you, sir,” Ava said.

“Call me Quentin, please,” Quentin said. “I believe congratulations are in order for the new job. And new place in Star City. I know you’ve only been here for a couple of days, but how are you settling in?”

Ava found Quentin almost as easy to talk to as Sara, happily telling him about her move across the country and the past few days adjusting to life in Star City. Their lunch finally arrived and was eaten with gusto, while the conversation moved easily along. Ava was strangely disappointed when Quentin’s lunch break came to an end and he returned to work, and she and Sara returned to their shopping.

“I like your dad,” Ava said, holding Sara’s hand as they wandered through the crowds.

“He’s pretty great,” Sara said. “He raised two teenage girls alone after mom split on us. He helped me a lot, especially after Laurel… after we lost Laurel.”

Ava lifted Sara’s hand and placed a kiss on the back of it. “Will you spend Christmas Day with him?”

“I’ll be there in the morning,” Sara said. “We’ll have pancakes for breakfast, then probably go to the cemetery. After that I’m going to head back to Franklin and spend the evening with Charlie and Zari. Dad will spend the rest of the day with Tommy’s family. Tommy is - was - Laurel’s fiancé. I’m invited, but I’d rather go back to Franklin.”

“Fair enough,” Ava said. “Charlie and Zari are family too.”

“They are,” Sara smiled. They’d ended up back inside the department store without thinking much about where they were going, but at least they were out of the freezing winds blowing straight down from Canada. “I know you’re organised, but how about we meet back here in an hour,” Sara said, then caught sight of the queue at the nearest check-out counter. “Actually make that two.”

Ava smiled. “Ok. So that will make it 3:20, right here,” she said, checking her watch.

“Yep. I’ll message you in an hour to let you know how I’m going.”

“I don’t mind if it’s not a surprise,” Ava said.

“Well I do,” Sara said. “Two hours.”

They gave each other a kiss, then Sara disappeared into the crowds. Full from lunch, Ava was happy to wander around the department store, learning it’s layout but not having to worry about any of the queues at the counters. She then made her way up Star City’s main shopping strip, looking in the windows at the various seasonal displays, then enjoying having a lot of time to browse in the massive and very busy bookstore. Ava’s phone buzzed.

**Sara:** Definitely need that extra hour. I think I’ve spent half the time in queues.

**Ava:** This is why you should be organised! 😜

**Sara:** Oh, I’m not complaining, I’m just stating facts. Everyone loves waiting behind people whose credit cards don’t work, or realise they have something in the wrong size, or conduct lengthy phone calls while the shop assistant and about a dozen other people are waiting for them to hurry up.  
 **Sara:** I’m in a queue right now  
 **Sara:** Hence the texting  
 **Sara:** A SLOW queue

**Ava:** Online shopping is the way to go, babe 😉  
 **Ava:** Though I am enjoying browsing, especially in the bookstore

**Sara:** I’m next in line.I’ll see you in an hour 😘🎄

Ava pocketed her phone and continued browsing. The bookstore seemed to be getting busier, so Ava left and continued walking up the street, keeping an eye on the time. Every shop was busy, and every person seemed to have bags of goods to take home. Ava returned to the department store, and loitered until Sara arrived, right on time, with two bags.

“Ready to go home?”

“Very,” Ava said.

“Me too,” said Sara. “I’m ready for something to eat.”

“I’m ready to get out of these crowds,” Ava said, holding onto the back of Sara’s coat as she led the way out of the department store.

“This is nothing,” Sara said, looking back to Ava with a mischievous grin, “You should see Oxford Street on December 23rd.”

“Really?” Ava asked with a grimace.

“Pilots work odd hours,” Sara said. “Got to do your shopping when you can.”

“Online shopping is open 24-7,” Ava grumbled as someone accidentally hit her with a shopping bag.

“Come on,” Sara said, putting both her shopping bags in one hand to take hold of Ava’s hand with the other. "Let's go home."

Once they returned to Ava’s apartment, Sara and Ava changed into something more comfortable before collapsing on the couch to watch re-runs of assorted 90s sitcoms on TV for a little while, both needing to decompress after the chaos and crowds.

“So when did you realise you like girls?” Sara asked, with Ava leaning against her.

Ava stretched out on the couch, resting her head in Sara’s lap. “I dunno. When I was about thirteen or fourteen? I didn’t come out until after college, though.”

Sara ran her fingers through Ava’s hair. “Did you ever have a boyfriend?”

“I went on two dates with a guy in my senior year of high school,” Ava said. “I hated it. I felt so uncomfortable, and he was fairly forward with what he wanted and there was no way I was doing that. In my younger teenage years I always thought I’d hit some magical age, and suddenly I’d be interested in men and not totally grossed out by the idea of hetero-sex. I’m still waiting,” Ava smirked, looking up at Sara.

Sara chuckled. “Did you have any crushes in high school?” she asked, tracing Ava’s hairline.

“Sort of,” Ava said. “I never allowed myself to properly crush on any girls, but thinking back on it, I definitely did. If asked, I always knew which one of the tall, basketball-playing, objectively good-looking Doug, Tom or Jason I could name.”

“The boys at everyone had a crush on?”

“Exactly,” Ava said. “It deflected attention. No one in my friendship group had boyfriends until senior year. At college I was too focussed on everything else to think about girls, and even then, I still wasn’t allowing myself to fancy them properly. This was the early-to-mid 2000s, and like you said earlier, there was no media representation, nothing saying ‘hey, it’s ok! Here’s other people like you!’ And doing a business degree doesn’t exactly lend itself to a massive queer community. And I - I think was scared.”

“Are you scared now?”

“Not about this,” Ava said, grabbing Sara’s hand and wrapping it around herself. She’d talked to Nate about some of these things, but that was different. He was her surrogate brother; Sara was her girlfriend. Sara made her feel safe in a different way. “We need to make dinner.”

“Take-out?”

“I have all the ingredients to make chicken Pad-See-Ew. I know its not very festive, but I thought we could make it together? At least the chopping-up part.”

“Excellent,” Sara said. “But you have to get up first. You’re lying on me.”

“Five more minutes,” Ava said, placing her hand on top of Sara’s.

Before starting the food preparation, Sara found a ‘Christmas Fireplace Scene with Crackling Fire Sounds’ clip on YouTube to play through the TV, adding extra ambience to the apartment. Once they’d finished their dinner and were almost done with the washing up, Sara asked, “So, can I give you one Christmas present tonight?”

“What is it?” Ava asked.

“It’s a present,” Sara said, putting the cutlery away. “I’m not telling.”

“Ok, fine,” Ava said. “But I get to give you something too.”

“Ok,” Sara said, hanging up her tea towel and disappearing into the bedroom. She returned a moment later with a shopping bag. “Sorry it’s not wrapped.”

Ava wiped her hands on a towel and took the bag, placing it on the bench. She opened it and pulled out something soft. “Oh, babe,” Ava grinned.

“It’s a bit corny, but - ”

“Sara! Now we have matching Christmas pyjamas! I love this!” Ava said, giving Sara a hug while still holding the tartan flannelette pyjamas with red satin trim. “Thank-you, babe. You’re a terrific gift buyer. Now I want to put them on.”

“Maybe later,” Sara said, her hand sliding up the inside of Ava’s jumper.

Ava felt a shiver run down her spine. “Yes. Later. One moment, babe, I want to give you something.”

Ava took Sara by the hand over to the Christmas tree, and grabbed a heavy, immaculately wrapped gift.

“Did you wrap this yourself?” Sara asked. “It almost looks too pretty to open.”

“Open it,” Ava said, proud that Sara appreciated her wrapping skills.

Sara carefully tore away the paper revealing the red hardcover of _Altas Obscura: Second Edition._ “I’ve been to some of these places!” Sara said, sitting down and flicking through the pages.

“You don’t already have it?” Ava asked.

“I borrowed it from the library a couple of years back,” Sara said. “But this is great, babe. I wonder if there’s anywhere in it from Star City,” she said, flicking to the section on North America.

Ava scooted closer to Sara’s side, and they spent some time looking through the pages cuddled together on the couch, finding places Sara had been, and others where they both wanted to go, their virtual fireplace crackling away on the TV. They opened the box of Quality Streets and finished the bottle of wine from the previous evening.

“Maybe one day you can take me there,” Ava said, as they looked at the entries for Rome, many of which Sara had had the opportunity to visit over the years of flying to Rome, or being able to go there on vacation.

“Maybe I will,” Sara said, reaching for another candy, and hoping one day to take Ava everywhere.


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Christmas: Part 3 - final chapter of the festive fluff, and into the new year from the next chapter.

Ava rolled over when she woke, opening her eyes to see Sara lying beside her already awake, her eyes sparkling even in the dim bedroom.

“Hi,” Ava said.

“Merry pretend-Christmas,” Sara grinned. She leant over to kiss Ava on the lips.

“Merry pretend-Christmas,” Ava said, not worried about things like morning breath with Sara. “What time is it?”

“Nearly eight. We need to get a bit of a move on, otherwise you’ll have a plane to catch and we’ll still be in our pyjamas.”

“Our matching pyjamas,” Ava grinned, pulling Sara in for a hug. “We’ll make sure we spent next actual-Christmas-slash-your birthday together.”

“It’s nice to have pretend-Christmas morning without it being my birthday too.”

“I got you a specific birthday present.”

“Oh. Well, this is the same as usual though,” Sara chuckled.

“No HIIT this morning?”

“Nah, I get two days off a week.”

“You do it five days a week?”

“Yep,” Sara said. “I had to do so much rehab and physio that I got in the habit of doing something. As I got better, that morphed into low intensity exercises, which eventually become HIIT stuff. It’s easier just to keep he routine.”

“The results aren’t terrible either,” Ava said, feeling Sara’s well-toned body under her pyjamas.

A few minutes later they rolled out of bed, wishing they could have lingered, but knowing there would be plenty of time for that another Christmas. Ava put on her dressing gown and slippers, while Sara pulled on one of Ava’s sweatshirts and her pink fluffy slippers.

“I should have bought you slippers to match your pyjamas,” Ava said as she started making the coffee.

Sara opened the tin of Quality Streets and started rummaging around for the ones she wanted. “I only do slippers in pink and fluffy,” she said.

“It’s the only thing I’ve seen you do in pink and fluffy,” Ava said.

“Exactly,” Sara replied, unwrapping a sweet in a bright blue wrapper, popping it in her mouth and holding the tin out to Ava.

“I still don’t know what half of these are.”

“Lucky dip,” Sara said, shaking the tin while trying to get caramel out of her teeth with her tongue.

Ava grabbed a chocolate in a red wrapper, and was pleased to find it had a strawberry filling. While she finished making the coffee and resigned herself to the fact that their breakfast was going to be coffee and chocolate, Sara put on a Christmas playlist and turned the lights on on Ava’s small tree.

As the playlist moved to ‘Must Be Santa’, Ava came over to the couch with the coffees.

“One gift each at a time?” Sara asked.

“Would you like to give or receive first?” Ava asked.

“Give, please,” Sara said. “I gave you the pyjamas to match me last night, because I knew you’d want to be matching this morning, so I only have two others. This one first,” she said, handing Ava an obviously book-shaped gift. “It’s brand new, so I hope you don’t have it yet.”

Ava opened the carefully wrapped gift, guessing that Sara had used in-store gift-wrapping service. Ava gasped happily. “I’ve seen this in shop windows! I actually flicked through a copy in the bookshop yesterday! Thank-you, babe! I’m going to start reading it on the plane,” Ava grinned, flicking through the copy of _A Fatal Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum: Murder in Ancient Rome._

“I’m glad you like it,” Sara said. “I know it’s not serial killers, but general murder is close enough, yeah?”

“It’s perfect,” Ava said, setting the book aside. “My turn to give one to you. This one is kind of obvious,” she said, passing a wine-bag with reindeers on it to Sara. “I may have got some advice as to specifically what you like from Zari. You weren’t kidding when you said you like top-shelf stuff.”

Sara’s eye’s widened when she saw the label on the whisky and slipped it back into the bag. “I’m saving this for when you visit me in Franklin. Though I might share a glass with dad tomorrow night.”

“Great,” Ava said. “I have no idea about alcohol and I think the lady in the store was pretty close to asking me for ID just based on how awkward I was.”

Sara laughed. “Babe, I love you, but you’re clearly over 21.”

“I know! That’s what made it so awkward! Ok, now this one,” Ava said, grabbing the larger box wrapped in red and green striped paper.

“I’ve been wondering what this is,” Sara said. As she took the box from Ava the contents rattled. Sara’s eyes widened and she grinned. “Oh, babe, you haven’t.”

“I hope you don’t mind…”

Sara tore the paper off and laughed. “I love it!”

“Really?”

“Yes! I know what I’m doing as soon as I get home,” she beamed, looking at the Lego Airport set.

“It’s not too silly?”

“Ava, it doesn’t matter how old I get, I will never be too grown up for toys, especially Lego. I’d open the box right now and make you help me make it if you weren’t going anywhere. My turn again,” Sara said, putting the Lego box aside and grabbing her other present for Ava. “I know you don’t wear much jewellery, and you don’t even have your ears pierced, which narrows down some gift options, but I hope you’ll like this.”

Ava unwrapped the gift and slowly prised open the Swarovski gift-box, revealing a gold bracelet set with white and pale yellow crystals in an Art-Deco style arrangement. “Sara, it’s beautiful! Thank-you,” Ava said, leaning across to give Sara a kiss.

“I hope you’ll get the chance to wear it,” Sara said.

“On Christmas Day, babe! My parents always want me dressed up, and this will be just the thing to top my outfit off. And one more present for you,” Ava said, catching a glimpse of the time and realising they needed to hurry along. She picked up the small dusty-pink pouch. “It was a pink bag or festive wrapping, and I didn’t want your birthday present wrapped in Christmas paper,” Ava said.

Sara pulled the strings open and tipped out the box inside.

“I know you already have a huge collection of rings and earrings, but I thought that - ”

“Yes, babe!” Sara said, immediately taking the golden star-burst earrings out of their box and putting them in her ears. “There,” Sara said, “How do they look?”

“Beautiful,” Ava said, pleased at how good the earrings looked with Sara’s skin and hair colour, as well as looking relatively festive. She caught Sara’s eye. “I really want to play happy Christmas morning with you for hours more, but we’re getting close to running late.”

Sara looked at the time. “You do online check-in, I’ll start tidying up,” she said, collecting up the torn wrapping paper and a couple of discarded sweet wrappers.

“You’re sounding very practical, babe. Everything all right?”

“I know you’d hate to come home to a mess, so the sooner we get this cleaned up, the sooner we can have a quickie, then race to the airport. I know exactly how late you can be and still be effectively on time.”

“Babe, you know I want to, but trying to… well, we’re a very tight schedule and…”

“Order an Uber for quarter past ten once you’ve do the online check-in. Trust me, babe,” Sara said, running her tongue across her teeth, “It’s not Christmas morning unless someone overindulges and everyone ends up running late.”

…

The Uber dropped Sara and Ava off out the front of the Star City Airport Domestic Terminal just in the nick of time. The airport was packed with travellers and well-wishes trying to find their terminal and baggage-drop and correct ticketing queue. Sara and Ava wound their way to the United baggage-drop, Ava constantly checking her watch.

“Plenty of time, babe,” Sara said, patting Ava’s arm as they queued, her overnight bag slung over her shoulder, and a large shopping bag in her hand containing the Lego box. “We could have taken another five minutes.”

“You’re a bad influence, Ms Lance,” Ava said, taking a moment to look at the half-hearted festive decorations around the terminal and realising that there was Christmas tunes playing.

“I’m a terrific influence,” Sara grinned, pulling off her beanie and unbuttoning her coat in the warmth of the terminal. “I used to be late for flights all the time.”

“You were the pilot, babe, the plane wasn’t leaving without you. Also, somehow I doubt that.”

Sara chuckled. “I was always close enough to being late to make some people nervous.”

They reached the front of the queue and Sara stepped aside while Ava checked her bag in. Even though she was only going to Fresno for a few nights, her mother would expect to see her in a change of clothes for every different party and gathering and random guest who dropped by. Plus Ava knew that her parents were bound to spoil her with gifts for which she’d need space to bring back.

“Which gate?” Sara asked as Ava returned, sans luggage.

“Gate 12,” said Ava. She was about to tell Sara she didn’t need to see her all the way to her gate before she realised that Sara wanted to be here. Nowhere did she look more comfortable than at the airport, despite the chaos and noise. They made their way towards the gate.

“Do you want something to eat?” Sara asked as they passed through the foodcourt.

“I don’t have time,” Ava said, suddenly realising she was very hungry as all they’d had to eat was candy and coffees, and the sugar and caffeine high was wearing off.

“Want to wait in line with me while I order something?” Sara asked. “We can see the departures board. It says your plane is boarding in 15 minutes.”

“Ok,” Ava said, and they joined the queue at a cafe. A few minutes later they were scoffing down fancy and overpriced ham, cheese and mustard toasted sandwiches and sharing a bottle of iced tea, which very much hit the spot.

“United Airlines flight to Fresno Yosemite Airport is now boarding at Gate 12. Passengers for this flight are invited to board now,” came the announcement over the tannoy.

Ava jumped up. “That’s my flight.”

“And Gate 12 is just over there,” Sara said, wiping her mouth with a napkin and putting the lid on the iced-tea bottle. “Did you know Fresno Airport has the code of FAT?”

“That I did know,” Ava said as they put their rubbish into the bin, “I’ve been to Fresno plenty of times.”

“It’s a little bit seasonally appropriate,” Sara said. “I can’t think of any other seasonally appropriate airport codes, but there’s plenty of waypoints. SANTA and DRUNK immediately come to mind.” Sara looked at Ava’s bemused expression. “I need to get you a book about planes.”

“I’m sure you have one I can borrow,” Ava said. “I’ve got my Ancient Roman murders one for now.”

They waited to the side of Gate 12 where there was a queue of people wanting to board the plane, those at the front naturally having some sort of difficulty and holding everyone else up.

“You can go line-up,” Sara said, noticing how stiff and impatient Ava was.

“I’m trying to relax, I promise,” Ava said.

Sara grinned, holding Ava’s hand. “Have a good flight. Message me when you get there.”

“Will do,” Ava said and looked at Sara in her jumper and coat, with messy hat-hair and beautiful earrings. “Miss you already.”

Sara stood on tip-toes to give Ava a kiss on the lips. Ava wrapped her arms around Sara’s waist to hold her closer.

“Those are very pretty earrings on you, Ms Lance,” Ava said, brushing Sara’s hair behind her ear.

“The person who gave them too me has very good taste,” Sara smiled, kissing Ava again.

“Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday, babe.”

“Thanks,” Sara said, “Merry Christmas to you too.”

“Have fun at your dad’s.”

“Won’t be as fun as with you.”

“Next year.”

“Definitely. You probably should join that queue now,” Sara said as the queue to board was getting smaller.

Ava gave her one final kiss before letting go.

Sara lurked in the terminal, watching as Ava’s plane taxied away from the skybridge, then went and found a better vantage point of the runway to watch the planes depart. Once she had seen Ava’s plane take to the sky she left the airport heading for her dad’s place, wondering what spending a real Christmas with Ava would be like.

…

“Ho ho ho!” Sara said, letting herself into Charlie and Zari’s house.

“Here she is, the birthday girl! Merry Christmas, Cap. I’d give you a hug, but I’m stuck under the cat,” Charlie said, sitting on the couch wearing an ugly Christmas jumper and flannelette pyjama pants with rainbows on them, with Apollo the cat sprawled across her lap, looking very comfortable.

“Happy birthday, Sara,” Zari said, standing up to give Sara a hug.

“Thanks, Z. Merry Christmas, Charlie.”

“How’s the day been?”

“Pretty good,” Sara said, “Dad and I had pancakes for breakfast, then I FaceTimed Ava and messaged Gideon before dad and I went to the cemetery. When we got back home we played a couple of rounds of Chinese Checkers while drinking tea and eating shortbread, then he got ready to go out for lunch and I packed up come back here.”

“You been home?”

“Yeah, just briefly,” Sara said.

“Your dinner’s in the fridge,” Charlie said.

“Are you guys eating?”

“Only Quality Streets.”

“I swear Charlie’s had half a tin of those,” Zari said. “Plus we had a huge lunch. Ray and Nora came by.”

“And I FaceTimed Gideon this morning,” Charlie said. “She was very chipper.”

“Did she have anything useful to say?” Sara opened the fridge and found a plate piled up with food which she guessed was for her. Artemis sat on the kitchen bench watching her.

“Not really, just the general gossip,” Charlie said.

Sara put the plate in the microwave. “I should probably call her. Maybe tomorrow.”

“Did you get your hamper?” Charlie asked.

“Yeah, the delivery guy had put it around the back. He must have known I was out,” Sara said. “Trust Gideon to get things delivered just in time.”

Sara waited a minute, giving Artemis a pat and telling Zari and Charlie about her few days away before the microwave pinged. The meal smelt good, and Sara realised how hungry she was. She got her meal out and carried it to the couch where her friends were seated. “Are you watching old episodes of Doctor Who?” she asked, sitting down beside Zari.

“Old Christmas episodes,” Charlie specified.

“We’ve been watching old episodes of everything pretty much all day,” Zari said. “I sort of want to complain, but it’s oddly relaxing.”

“I’ve got to do all the programming, as no channel over here is quite like the Beeb on Christmas Day.”

Sara smiled, getting stuck into her meal of roast turkey and vegetables, gravy, cranberry sauce, and Charlie’s special garlic and butter Brussel sprouts. Her phone vibrated in her pocket. Sara pulled it out and smiled at the picture from Ava, sending a string of emojis in reply.

“Is that Ava?”

“Hmm?”

“You have that dreamy look about you,” Zari said.

“Yes, it’s Ava,” Sara said, stuffing another fork-full of food into her mouth.

“I bet she’s sending nudes.”

“No, I bet she’s sending lingerie shots.”

“That can be even hotter.”

“If you really want to know,” Sara said, “She sent a picture of herself in flannelette pyjamas with a pile of books.” Sara had been slightly surprised to see a Rebecca Silver novel in the pile which otherwise consisted of crime thrillers and related factual books, though the book Sara had given her was on top of the pile with a bookmark poking out more than halfway through.

“Seriously?” Zari asked.

“So she’s as much as a nerd as you then,” Charlie said with a grin. “Good to know.”


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks everyone for your continued support. We're entering the third act of the story now :)

January was cold and damp, but Ava was too busy settling into her new job and new city for it to bother her. Being in the same timezone as Sara was a huge bonus, as was the fact that they were able to see each other every second weekend when Sara came to Star City, as it also gave her the opportunity to visit her dad. Sara was effectively her own boss, and as Franklin Municipal Airport was much quieter during the winter months, Sara had a lot more flexibility when it came to leaving work early or working remotely. Besides, Ava didn’t have her own car and would have to hire one, and Sara didn’t want her driving alone on dark, slippery, unfamiliar roads in an unfamiliar vehicle.

As the year progressed, the gloomy grey weather stuck around into March, and days turned into weeks without Sara and Ava having seen one another in person. First Ava had been ill and advised Sara not to come, then the following week there had been a storm, causing trees to fall across the main road leading from Franklin to Star City and civilisation in general, thereby trapping Sara at home, and Ava began to have doubts. Not about Sara, never about Sara, but about what she was doing with her life in general.

The new job was fine, but that was it. The work was fine, the people were fine, the commute was fine, but nothing thrilled her. Upon reflection, her work at the Office of National Emergency seldom did either, but she found herself missing some of the urgency which would often occur at her old job. Ava had thought she’d enjoy the regularity of the new job, but instead found it boring and repetitive. Her new team were fine, but none of them were who she would have picked. Though Gary had driven her mad half the time, she missed him all the same. At least he was unique and had personality. Her new assistant seemed like a cardboard cut-out. On top of that, Ava missed Nate. She missed him popping down from his office whenever he wanted to go out for a cheeky morning coffee. She missed their lunchtime walks and some of the places they’d go to eat and their conversations about anything and everything.

All the same, Ava persisted. She was good at her job, and knew she was making a good impression to her new bosses. She got along with her co-workers, though she didn’t invite any of them on her lunchtime walks and was careful to keep professional boundaries between herself and them. Ava found a couple of places she was happy to eat at, including reacquainting herself with one which she and Sara had visited on the food tour on Ava’s first trip to Star City.

Everything was fine, Ava thought with a sigh, looking out the window over Star City before closing the blinds. The days were getting longer as they approached the equinox, and she could see the sun setting over the water. Soon it would be Easter. She’d sent a text message to her mom; just a general, brief update, and knew in the next half hour or so she’d receive an essay in reply, mostly full of gossip about people Ava barely knew. Ava looked at her phone. She should call Sara. She should tell Sara how she was feeling. Would things be better if Sara was here?

Yes, Ava thought. On the weeks when Sara came to visit, she always arrived in Star City before Ava came home from work. Sara had a spare key, and would get herself settled into Ava’s apartment. Ava would come home to Sara cooking, or watching TV, or one time running the bath and telling Ava to get undressed the moment she walked through the door, to which Ava had been very quick in obliging.

Ava sighed. Of course, if Sara was here all the time, it wouldn’t be like that every day, but she’d be here, and that would make a difference. Ava wanted a hug.

 **Ava:** I need a hug

 **Sara:** You ok? 😘💕  
 **Sara:** I’m guessing a virtual hug won’t cut it?

 **Ava:** Just overthinking things 😣

 **Sara:** I know that feeling. Wish I could provide the hug.

 **Ava:** Are you still at Charlie and Zari’s?

 **Sara:** Yes. Wanna chat later?

 **Ava:** Yes please. I know we don’t usually talk on Tuesdays

 **Sara:** It doesn’t matter. I’ll be home in about twenty minutes. Ok if I call then?

 **Ava:** Yes. Thank you 💜

 **Sara:** 😘

True to her word, Sara called twenty minutes later, and Ava was almost overcome with relief when she picked up the phone, not realising how much she wanted to hear Sara’s voice, despite having had a very long talk on Sunday and having sent numerous messages since. Ava lay on the couch, telling Sara everything.

“Do you want to go back to DC?” Sara asked once Ava had finished unloading her thoughts and frustrations.

Ava sighed. She’d been asking herself the same question. “I don’t think so,” she said. “I think I’ve passed the point where everything here is shiny and new, and now it’s just a matter getting into the swing of things. I’ll be fine, I’m just overthinking things, like I said.”

“What are you doing for Easter?” Sara asked. “Want to come to Franklin?”

“For the Easter weekend? You’re happy for me to drive? Ugh, I can already imagine the chaos on the roads as everyone tries to get out of Star City.”

“Come on,” Sara said. “It’ll be fun. And for the next six months, I am happy for you to make the drive, as you’ll at least get most of the way here in daylight. Plus I am coming to Star City this weekend, and no sickness, storms or anything else is stopping me.”

Ava smiled, feeling calmer for having been able to speak with Sara. Friday couldn’t come soon enough. “I’ve really missed you.”

“Me too,” Sara said. “Longest month ever.”

…

Ava was so excited as Easter drew closer. Like many in her workplace, she had opted to take an extra day off, and couldn’t wait to spend it in Sara’s company. She’d never taken an extra day off at Easter while working in DC. She’d never seen the point, as she had no where in particular to go, and knew everywhere would be crowded. But this year, things were different. It had been wonderful to be reunited with Sara for a couple of days the weekend before last, but as well as seeing her girlfriend, Ava was also looking forward to getting out of Star City, renting a car and taking the scenic drive to Franklin.

The final days in the lead-up to Easter seemed to pass slowly, and again Ava found herself missing the eternal chaos at the Office of National Emergency. Whenever she was waiting for some holiday or vacation or other event while working there, some emergency would occur filling all her time, but nothing of the sort happened now. Each day panned out exactly how it was planned. Ava was glad it was only a twelve month contract and she was already a quarter done, though she had no idea what to do next.

Ava left the office as soon as she could on Thursday afternoon, going straight to the car hire place, having taken her carry-on suitcase to work with her. She climbed in the car and connected her phone to the BlueTooth, having curated a playlist for the drive. Ava was on the road heading east before 5 o’clock, grateful she’d get most of the way to Franklin before it got completely dark. She was impressed with the zippy little hire car, smaller than she would have chosen if it was her own vehicle, but it was fun for driving across the state. It had fewer than 10,000 miles on the clock, which Ava knew her father would be impressed with, as well as a plethora of safety features she barely understood. Sara had told her where to stop for refreshments along the way, and Ava promised to keep her updated throughout her trip.

It was almost ten o’clock by time Ava arrived in Franklin, and she was grateful to see the lights of the tiny town after having driven through the dark forests roads for the past couple of hours. She drove through the quiet town and pulled in Sara’s driveway, grateful that Sara had left the outside light on. Before Ava had had time to unstrap herself, Sara was already there, opening the car door.

“Ava Sharpe! Welcome back to Franklin,” Sara said with a grin.

Ava stumbled out of the car and into Sara’s welcoming arms. “It’s good to be back. I want to say hi properly, but I am busting to use the bathroom.”

“Go, go!” Sara laughed. “I’ll get your bag.”

“It’s on the back seat,” Ava said, hurrying into the house.

Sara watched her disappear, thankful that Ava had arrived safely, before grabbing Ava’s suitcase off the backseat of the car, and her handbag from the passenger’s seat. She also took the empty water bottle and candy-bar wrapper, closed the car door with her foot and carried everything inside.

A couple of minutes later, Ava reappeared from the bathroom to find Sara in her bedroom with Ava’s bag sitting beside the wardrobe.

“This time you’re sleeping in here,” Sara said, placing her hands on Ava’s hips.

“Is it weird that I sort of just want to go to sleep now?” Ava asked, giving Sara a peck on the lips and wrapping her arms around Sara’s back, grateful to have her so close. “I’m too tired to even watch mindless TV.”

“That’s completely understandable,” Sara said. “Tomorrow I want to take you for a walk, and Charlie and Zari have insisted that we go to their place for dinner.”

“That’s ok,” Ava said. “We have three nights and two full days together this time.”

“Want to have a shower?”

“Together?”

“Why not?” Sara smirked. “Save water.”

Ava smiled. “I just remembered how excellent the water pressure is,” she said. Sara took Ava by the hand and led her to the bathroom, taking expert care in undressing her. Ava loved the way Sara gently pushed her dress-shirt over her shoulders, and how her fingers deftly unclasped Ava’s bra. Sara then stripped down herself, Ava happy to watch, before making sure the water temperature in the shower was just right.

Later on when they were lying in bed, Sara asked, “Hey Ava?”

“Mmm?” Ava asked. She had been drifting off to sleep, though Sara’s voice pulled her back.

“I have a question. I’ve been thinking a bit and… there’s a few ‘ifs’ in the lead-up statement but… you are allowed to say no.” Sara was lying on her side, facing away from Ava.

Ava wondered if Sara had even tried to fall asleep as yet. “What’s the question, babe?” Ava asked, rolling over and placing her hand on Sara’s thigh. She could feel the scar down her leg through her thin cotton pyjama pants, and gently rubbed Sara’s leg.

“Ok. So _if_ I do the BA medical, and _if_ they say that I can’t fly… would you perhaps consider learning how? I don’t mean commercial jets, just light planes. That way I don’t have to think I’ll never sit in a cockpit again.”

“Yes,” Ava said without hesitation. “But can’t you fly light planes without the BA medical?” The thought had never occurred to her before, but as soon as she asked it, it seemed logical.

Sara, however, appeared to shrink into a small ball, and Ava realised that had been the wrong question to ask. She curled in around Sara, spooning her and holding her tightly. Sara didn’t want to fly light aircraft for fun, she wanted to fly jets. She wanted to be a professional pilot, and if she couldn’t do that, she didn’t want to fly at all. Or at least not for the foreseeable future. Ava understood as well as anyone how easy it was to fixate on an idea at the expensive of all other possibilities, and couldn’t blame Sara for being stuck on this point.

“I have to try,” Sara whispered so quietly that Ava hardly heard her. “The thought of being told no scares me sick, but I have to try. I don’t know when, but I - ” Sara swallowed. “I will try, Ava.”

“Whenever you’re ready, I’m right here with you, babe.”

Sara wrapped her arms over Ava’s, allowing herself to melt into Ava’s embrace. “I know,” she said. “That’s why I’m not quite so afraid to fail anymore.”


	21. Chapter 21

Ava’s first thought when she awoke was how quiet it was outside without the hum of the city she was so accustomed to. She stretched in Sara’s bed, appreciating the silky blue sheets. Sara was already up, and Ava could hear the muffled sound of music playing in another part of the house. She went to check her phone, but noticed the battery was dead, as she’d forgotten to charge it last night. Ava climbed out of bed, found her charger and plugged it into the wall. She then put on her socks and slippers, threw a zip-up hoodie on over her pyjamas, and went to find Sara.

“There she is, finally making an appearance!”

Ava looked around, then realised that she’d walked past Sara, who was sitting at her desk in her study.

“Morning, babe,” Ava said. “What time is it?”

“Five to nine,” Sara said, pausing her music.

“Seriously?” Ava said. “Honey, you could have woken me.”

“You looked to peaceful sleeping,” Sara said, “Besides, you must have needed the sleep-in.”

“I guess I did,” Ava said. Even on the weekends Ava set an alarm, and hadn’t realised how tired she was.

“I’ll finish this email, then I’ll come and make you some breakfast,” Sara said.

“Are you working?” Ava asked.

“Just doing some admin stuff,” Sara said. “I’ve been up since seven, so I’ve done my HIIT exercises, had breakfast, got dressed, and figured I’d see how much work I can get done before you woke up.”

“Do you need to go to the airport?” Ava asked.

Sara shrugged. “Zari will call me if there’s any emergency, but the weather’s fine, she knows I have plans, and I know she can handle it. She covers for me today, I’ll cover for her when she and Charlie go away for a few days during school spring break.”

Ava nodded, looking around the room. Some of the items were familiar from their hours spent on FaceTime including the figurines behind Sara’s desk and the print on the wall. Others she remembered from her first visit, such as the comfy-looking armchair, globe and model of a plane. There were a couple of photos which caught Ava’s eye. One was of teenage Sara and Laurel with their father at Cannon Beach in Oregon, and other faded photo in a childish frame of Sara aged about five or six, sitting on the lap of a man in his sixties with a similarly aged women beside him. Ava guessed they were Sara’s grandparents. Ava’s eyes fell on a third photo, which at first glance she didn’t understand what she was looking at.

“That’s me,” Sara said, following Ava’s gaze.

“How do you mean?” Ava asked, as she began to make sense of the photo. The clouds were below, because the photo was taken from the air. In the centre of the picture, though far away in the clear blue sky, was a plane, and Ava could just make out the red and blue on the tail.

“I’m piloting the plane in the distance. Gideon took the photo. We were passing in the air and had heard one another on the radio. It’s common to hear other pilots, but you don’t always see their plane even though they’re ‘close’,” Sara explained, doing the air quotes. “And it’s even rarer to see the plane in the air that a friend is piloting. I have plenty of photos of me in the cockpit, or looking out the cockpit window, but that is the only photo I have of a plane actually flying which I am piloting.”

“That’s amazing,” Ava said with a new appreciation for the photo.

“It is pretty great,” Sara said with a wistful smile.

“It is a nice morning,” Ava said, remembering their conversation last night and looking out the window. “I’ll let you finish up and go get dressed.”

“You can hang out in your pjs if you want,” Sara smiled.

“Maybe tomorrow?” Ava asked, not sure what plans Sara had for their long weekend.

“Maybe,” Sara said with a slight smirk.

Not long afterwards, Ava was sitting in Sara’s kitchen as Sara brewed the coffee and waited for Ava’s toast to cook.

“When did you go to Cairo?” Ava asked, looking across into the sitting room, where she could see the photo of Sara jumping in front of the Pyramids.

“When did I first go there, last go there, how many times did I go there, or…” Sara followed Ava’s gaze. “Oh, you mean in the picture.”

“How many times did you go there?” Ava asked, raising her eyebrows.

Sara shrugged. “A couple of times a month for at least six months or longer I think.”

“That was obviously a dumb question, sorry,” Ava said, closing her eyes.

Sara laughed, bringing Ava her coffee. “It’s not a dumb question. There’s heaps of places I never flew to, because my aircraft wasn’t the model that was used for the route. But at the time Dreamliners flew Heathrow to Cairo, so I visited a lot. That photo is from my first time there. All the rest of the crew had been there before and insisted we go and get that shot. When I first glimpsed the Pyramids from the air it was incredible.”

“Was that a favourite destination?”

“It’s so hard to choose,” Sara said. “Everywhere has it’s pros and cons. Cairo was great, but every time I went there is was extremely, uncomfortably hot. Some places had really great airports, or runways, or were annoying because you had to taxi for ages. At some we always landed at night, or we arrived or departed with the sun in our eyes. Thunder storms, sand storms, snow storms. I don’t think there was anywhere I really didn’t like at all, but coming back to Heathrow was always… it felt like coming home, like turning into your driveway at home.”

The toast popped.

“I can’t believe you haven’t been to Europe,” Sara said, bringing over Ava’s coffee and toast.

“I’d go with you,” Ava said.

Sara swallowed. “One day.”

Ava smiled and sipped at her coffee, savouring the taste. “This is the good one,” she said.

“Yeah,” Sara said. “I thought you’d like that. Maybe one day I’ll take you to the purveyor of such fine coffee too.”

“You can’t get it here?”

“Well, definitely not in the supermarkets in Lexington, or even in the department stores in Star City. Maybe in NYC or some of the other really big cities, but all of my supply is kindly supplied by Gideon.”

“How does it work?” Ava asked, her eye again falling on the photo of Sara in Cairo as she generously buttering her toast, “Landing a plane?”

“Hang on,” Sara said, disappearing into her study. She reappeared a moment later with a small blue hard-covered book, titled _How to Land a Plane_. “That’s your homework,” she smiled, placing the book beside Ava’s plate.

Ava looked at Sara with a curious expression. “I hope you get more training than this.”

Sara laughed. “The author is a fellow BA pilot, so he knows what he’s talking about,” she said. “But reading time later. As soon as you’re ready, we’re going walking.”

Once Ava was ready, Sara took her on one of her favourite tracks out of Franklin into the woods. It was roughly a two hour walk, with several good vantage spots along the way, and the walking as fairly easy going. They talked as they walked, Ava airing her ongoing grievances about work, though she was very happy to have found an excellent Japanese take-out place not far from the office. The sun shore, spring flowers were forcing their way up, and they saw a couple of squirrels racing up the trees. Ava found it hard to believe that on any other Friday, she’d be in the air-conditioned office with fluorescent lighting and plastic plants, preparing for the 11am Weekly Catch-Up Meeting. She couldn’t think of anything worse than that, or anywhere but here that she’d rather be than here with Sara.

“Here’s a bit of a view,” Sara said, coming to a stop. She pulled out her phone, flicking it to camera mode, and wrapped her arm around Ava.

“Give it here,” Ava said with a smile, “I’ve got longer arms.”

They took a couple of photos together and Sara promised to send them to Ava once they returned to the town and the wifi. When they returned to Sara’s house an hour later, they made toasted sandwiches for lunch which involved an in-depth conversation about the correct type and quantity of cheese.

“I know this is annoying, but do you mind if I do a bit of work after lunch?” Sara asked. “Just for an hour or so?”

“Of course not,” Ava said, a long string of cheese dangling from her toasted sandwich. “I should probably check my emails too.”

“Uh-uh. You, Ms Sharpe, are on a paid vacation day. Your emails can wait until Monday. Mine, however, should to be checked as I am technically working.”

“Just taking an extra long lunch-break?”

“Exactly,” Sara smirked.

After they’d cleaned up from lunch they moved into Sara’s office, Ava settling in the comfortable armchair. She set one of the photos from their walk as the wallpaper on her phone, then started reading _How to Land a Plane._ At one point she looked up to see Sara looking at her.

“What?”

“Nothin’.”

Ava smirked. “Nearly done?”

“Nearly,” Sara said. “Want to go to Lexington and get some supplies once I’m done? We’ll only be an hour or so, so plenty of time before we go to Charlie and Zari’s.”

“Sure,” Ava said, interested to see the neighbouring town.

“They have two supermarkets and a Target,” Sara said.

“Wow,” Ava said, pretending to be impressed.

Sara laughed. “Let me finish this safety stuff, then we can get ready to go.”

“I’m liking the book, by the way,” Ava said.

“I’ve got plenty more,” Sara said, nodding towards the bookcase.

Ava saw that there was a quite a few other books related to flying, though a few looked highly technical. She also saw a number of map books, including the _Atlas Obscura_.

“You’ll have to recommend one,” Ava said.

Sara smiled. “You’re distracting me now.”

“Want me to go sit in the living room?”

“No,” Sara said. “I like you being a distraction. It’s just - distracting.”

Ava laughed and stood up. “Finish your work so we can go out. I’m going to the bathroom.”

Ava found the trip to Lexington oddly enjoyable. She had a strange sense of satisfaction while walking through the unfamiliar supermarket aisles with Sara. They choose what they wanted for dinner the following evening, as well as Sara getting her supplies for the week. They’d been food-shopping together a couple of times for Ava in Star City, but Ava enjoyed having their positions reversed. Afterwards they went for a walk around the main block. Ava noticed that there was more than just a couple of outdoor supplies stores, as well as a number of cafes and a few take-away places, but also a traditional butchers, a bookshop, a post office and a large news agency. There was a brick building at the end of the town which looked like a school, but the sign out the front said it was part of National City University and Star City University.

“That’s where your man Nate’s buddy Ray works,” Sara explained as they made their way back to the car. “It’s only post-grad and PhD students doing research projects, and a few other project teams, like the one Ray’s part of, though the supervises post-grads too.”

“It’s a peculiar location,” Ava said.

“Not really,” Sara said. “It’s mostly geo-space and surveying, astronomy and astro-physics because of the dark sky reserves nearby, biology, geology, geography, and enviro-science. They get a bus load of under-grads from one of those disciplines each week for a week of field work.”

“And both universities use the one location?”

“It seems to work for them,” Sara said with a shrug.

They had a little bit of time to themselves once they returned to Franklin before heading to Zari and Charlie’s place for dinner. Ava could smell the delicious meal before they entered the house, and was very much looking forward to whatever Zari had cooked. She quickly hit it off with Zari, helping her out as she finished the meal, while Sara and Charlie set the table and decided on drinks. Ava, usually not one of a lot of company, happily would have stayed and chatted for much longer after the meal, but they said goodnight fairly early, deciding to go for a walk all together in the morning. Ava caught Charlie wink at Sara on the way out, and a fairly long and hot while later, tangled in the sheets and each other’s body, Ava understood Sara’s eagerness to leave.


	22. Chapter 22

On Saturday morning, Sara and Ava lay in bed, talking and cuddling and enjoying the opportunity to laze about. Ava kept her thoughts about how this was the perfect scenario for the start of a serial killer story to herself, knowing that as much as Sara encouraged her podcasting, she didn’t want to hear the actual stories. Eventually they rolled out of bed, somewhat reluctantly as they had agreed to meet Charlie and Zari at ten o’clock, and wishing they’d chosen a later time.

“Could you message them?” Ava asked with a yawn once they’d made their way to the kitchen.

“Nah, they’ll think we’re up to… well, what we were up to let night,” Sara said with a smirk.

Ava smiled. “At least it’s sunny again.”

“It will be fun once we get going,” Sara said, spreading a very generous helping of peanut-butter on her toast. “It’s just the getting going that’s the problem.”

Sara had been right that it was fun to go walking with Charlie and Zari. The track narrowed as they went along through the forest, Sara and Charlie marching ahead, while Ava and Zari kept to a more leisurely pace.

“I haven’t told anyone else yet, but, umm… at the end of the school year, during the summer, me and Z are moving to London,” Charlie said.

Sara smiled. “I’m not surprised.”

“Really?”

“I always knew you weren’t going to stay forever. Have you told Gideon?”

“Oh, yeah, Gideon knows,” Charlie said. “She’s sent us the right paperwork for Zari to get a visa. This morning we were sitting in bed looking up pet passports for the cats. At least we’ve got a few months to get ourselves organised, and figure out jobs and all that across the pond. Gideon might be able to help Z get something, and London always needs teachers, so I should be right. Just a matter of where exactly I end up. I’d love to just teach GSCE History and Classics at some big secondary school somewhere, but we’ll see. I have to tell the school principal here and resign from my job, and I guess Zari has to give you her resignation too.”

“Yeah,” Sara said. “No huge rush though for Z to do that. Don’t know how I’ll replace her, but surely there’ll be someone else who wants to be Chief Engineer at a tiny airport.”

“I’m sure you’ll get someone,” Charlie said.

“Not like Zari. The moment I met her at the interview I knew she was the one I was going to hire. Until then, interviewing people had been the worst.”

“Job interviews are never fun whatever side of the table you’re sitting on,” Charlie said. “People read my resume, and always assume the person named Charlotte who went to Royal Holloway and ULC, and worked for years at BA is not a gay, black punk with a Cockney accent, so they’re always surprised when I turn up for the interview.”

Sara gave Charlie a nudge. “Yeah, but they can’t help but love you when the meet you.”

Charlie looked at Sara and gave a small smile. “You’re not mad? That I’m leaving? It’s just that I miss it, Sara. I miss London. It’s my home, and even though the air is pretty toxic and the water tastes funny and the Thames often smells a bit weird… it’s my home.”

“Hey, you’re preaching to the choir,” Sara said. “Sometimes I think about walking around the city, through one of the parks or down Regent’s street or along the Embankment. The Thames is always out, so there’s mud filled with a couple of millennia of rubbish below. The wind is cold, and there’s usually some dodgy looking guy around, or a group of road-workers disturbing the peace with some god-awful piece of machinery.”

“Or about a dozen of them standing round with shovels and a Stop/Slow sign, but absolutely no evidence of work happening,” Charlie said.

“Yep,” Sara said. “Sometimes I think about Covent Garden Market at Christmastime, or squeezing onto a peak-hour Tube service, or eating a really good sausage roll,” Sara said wistfully. “I’ll admit that I have woken up with the ‘Please mind the gap’ lady’s voice in my head.”

Charlie laughed. “The same one who asks you to stand clear of the closing doors please? And tells you that you’re on a Piccadilly line service to Cockfosters?”

“It’s immature yet funny every time. And I caught that train for years.”

“Have you told Ava?” Charlie asked.

“About what?”

“That you miss it?”

“The Tube?”

“What? No, London.”

Sara shrugged. She talked a lot about flying, but she’d never said much about London, and the way she’d completely fallen in love with her adopted city, and how sometimes, even now, some nights she still felt homesick for it.

“You should visit,” Charlie said. “Gideon would love that. You have to come visit once Zari and I get ourselves settled.”

Sara nodded slowly. “I don’t think the problem is going,” she said. “It’s having to come back here. I can’t, I - ” Sara looked back down the track at Zari and Ava. Ava waved and Sara waved back.

“She’d go with you,” Charlie said. “She’s already moved from DC.”

“I know. I - I’m a bit worried I’m going to screw things up.”

“How?”

“I don’t know,” Sara said.

“If you’re worried about it, that probably means you won’t,” Charlie said. “I’ve never seen you so keen on someone, and she’s clearly head over heels for you.”

“Same with you and Zari.”

“So you’ll visit?”

“Once you’re settled, we’ll come and visit,” Sara said.

“Promise?” Charlie asked. “This year?”

“Promise, yes. But I’m not guaranteeing when.”

“I’ll see you when we’re old age pensioners, then,” Charlie teased. “Might want to tell Ava you dream about the Please Mind the Gap lady’s voice though.”

A little way behind, and occasionally losing sight of Sara and Charlie because of the trees and the winding path, Zari and Ava followed along.

“What do you suppose they’re talking about,” Zari said, able to tell by Charlie’s body-language that she was laughing.

“Could be anything,” Ava said.

“I suppose,” Zari said. “I hope she’s told Sara that we’re moving to London. I told her to, anyway.”

“You’re moving?”

“In the summer. I need a visa before we can go, but yes. We’re moving. I’ll call my family and tell them tonight. I don’t know what my parents will think, but at least Behrad graciously manages to continually outdo me in the family’s black sheep stakes, so moving continents won’t be that big a deal.”

“Behrad’s your brother?” Ava confirmed.

“Fortunately/unfortunately, yes,” Zari said. “I love him to bits, but he drives our parents mad. I studied the wrong sort of engineering, then ended up getting a girlfriend. Behrad is currently in either his fifth or sixth year of a three-year business degree, and most of the time is completely stoned.”

“Oh,” Ava said, having a lot of questions. “Wrong sort of engineering?”

Zari laughed. “Aeronautical engineering is a mechanical engineering specialisation, which in my parent’s view, falls below electrical and chemical engineering, and their various specialisations. According to my family, those are the superior types of engineering.”

“Oh,” said Ava.

“Also, they were disappointed I left what they thought was a good job at Seattle Airport to come here, but for various reasons I was finding it soul-sucking, and coming to Franklin turned out to be exactly what I needed.”

“Franklin seems to have that effect on people,” Ava said with a smile, looking up the trail to where Sara and Charlie were having a lively, animated discussion.

It was almost lunchtime by time they arrived back in town and went their seperate ways. Sara and Ava were happy to kick off their shoes, and made a quick lunch of pot-noodles.

“What?” Ava asked, watching Sara watch her.

“You got a little something…” Sara said, wiping the side of her own mouth.

Ava wiped her face with a napkin. “Saving some for later,” she said.

Sara smiled. “You are Zari looked like you were getting on.”

“Yeah,” Ava said. “She’s really cool. I’m guessing Charlie told you about their big plans?”

“Back to London? Yes, she did.”

“I guess you’ll really miss them.”

“Yeah,” San said quietly. “I will. And I - talking to Charlie made me realise how much I miss London too. I purposely talk about all the exotic places I flew too, but hardly about my adopted home. ”

“I’ve kind of picked up that you really liked it,” Ava said.

Sara nodded. “I never felt like I didn’t belong. It didn’t matter there that I was bi, or American, or a female pilot or anything else. It’s so big and so all-encompassing and… I miss the trains that go everywhere. I miss really good Indian food. I miss the history. Sure there’s things that aren’t great, but the pros so heavily outweigh the cons.”

“We’ll have to visit Charlie and Zari,” Ava said.

“Yeah,” Sara said. “We will.”

Since their dinner was going to be a relatively simple pasta dish, they decided to bake an apple pie to go with it. They’d cooked together before, usually with one or the other took the lead, but they realised this time there were a few sticking points. What size the apples should be, whether or not to include berries (no, because Sara didn’t have any), what spices (if any) to include, exactly how to make the pastry, and how to decorate the top were all topics for friendly debate. In the end they were very proud of their hybrid pie, decorated with latticed pastry and bordered with planes cut out using Sara’s small plane-shaped cookie-cutter.

Ava took a photo of their creation when it came out of the oven and sent it to her mom.

“Mom is going to be so proud,” Ava said. “You know you have to meet my parents one day, babe.”

“One day the stars will align,” Sara said. Quentin had dined with them in Star City a couple of times since the beginning of the year, and Sara loved that her dad and Ava were getting to know one another. She understood why Ava would want the same. “Maybe over the summer?”

“They might come up to Star City,” Ava said, “Mom keeps talking about wanting to a driving trip all the way up the Pacific North West to Vancouver Island. Do you think we might have a vacation somewhere during the summer?”

“We either have to go early or late,” Sara said, finding a knife to cut up the pie. “I don’t want to deal with school holiday crowds and inflated hotel prices.”

“I was hoping you’d say that,” Ava said, getting the ice-cream out of the freezer. “Maybe we could hire a cabin somewhere?”

“I’d like that,” Sara said. “How big do you want your slice?”

They both had generous second helpings of apple pie and ice-cream, which they ate on the couch, only paying minimal attention to the silly romantic movie on Netflix, as every scene or two seemed to relate to an anecdote one of them had, and their own discussions were much more interesting than whatever was happening on screen. Soon even discussion fell away to more intimate activities, their dessert bowls lay forgotten on the coffee table, the TV was turned off, and they retired to Sara’s room wrapped up in one-another.

…

On Sunday morning, Ava woke before Sara. She lay on her side, watching Sara sleep as there was just enough light coming in behind the curtains. Sara looked so peaceful and content, and Ava wished they could be this way every morning.

“Hi,” Sara said, her eyes flickering open after a few minutes.

“Hi,” Ava said.

“Been awake long?”

“No.”

“Good,” Sara said, closing her eyes again and snuggling into Ava.

“I don’t want to go home,” Ava said.

“Then stay,” Sara said. “Move to Franklin. Come to lunch with the Palmers with me. Ray always makes enough to serve an army.”

“That actually doesn’t sound terrible, but…”

“I know,” Sara said.

“Maybe one day,” Ava said. “It would be fun to come home to you.”

Sara opened her eyes and looked at Ava. “I’d like that. Oh, and happy Easter. We’re having chocolate for breakfast.”

“Happy Easter,” Ava said. “And that’s fine with me.”

They stayed in bed a little while longer before finally getting up. While Sara made the coffees, Ava whipped up a batch of pancake mix, which they ate with chocolate sauce and banana slices. After their decadent breakfast, they got ready and went for a walk around Franklin, passing the school, town hall and airport, before heading up a short track in the forest, holding hands as they walked. Even though it was mid-morning, they had the track all to themselves, and all too soon they were back where they started, and returned to Sara’s house.

“You have to take some food with you,” Sara insisted, “A lot of the usual stops might be shut today. Or insanely busy.”

Ava gathered a couple of water bottles and some snacks, including a slice of apple pie. The hire car was due back in Star City by 6, and Ava knew she was going to be far from the only person returning from out of town.

While Ava packed up, Sara got ready to go to Passover/Easter lunch with her friends. Once they were ready for their respective afternoon activities, and the car was packed, they lingered out the front of Sara’s house, Ava unwilling to leave, and Sara wishing she could stay.

“I guess I’ll see you in a couple of weeks?” Ava said, holding Sara’s hands.

“I’ll be there,” Sara said. “Thanks for coming up to Franklin.”

“It’s been great,” Ava said. “It’s nice to see the town again and get to know your friends better, especially under less stressful circumstances.”

Sara smiled. “You better go. _I_ better go. Ray mightn’t worry about my tardiness, but Nora can be very intimidating. I need to at least beat Charlie and Zari.”

“Enjoy your afternoon.”

“Enjoy the drive. Message me whenever you stop.”

“Will do. I’ll call you tomorrow?”

“Please. Try not to let work get to you.”

“Easier said than done,” Ava said.

“Go, or we’ll stand here all afternoon.”

“Would that be so bad?”

“Ray’s a really good cook, so I don’t want to miss lunch.”

Ava leant in and kissed Sara, who held onto Ava’s hips as they kissed.

“Ok, I really should go before I get distracted,” Ava said, regretfully pulling away. “I’ll see you for more in a fortnight.”

Sara smirked. “Talk later.”

“Love you,” Ava said, getting into the car.

“Love you more,” Sara said, just before Ava closed the door, leaving Sara without her once more.


	23. Chapter 23

Following her Easter vacation to Franklin, Ava decided that she needed to do more to try and break up her routine. She up-graded some of her sound and recording equipment and set up the second bedroom as a proper study and recording room for her podcast. The resulting improvement in sound quality thrilled Ava, and she was delighted to receive feedback from a number of listeners saying they noticed the difference. Ava had been so excited to show the space off to Sara when she had next visited.

“This looks pro, babe,” Sara said, impressed by the set-up.

“I’m pretty proud of it if I may say so myself,” Ava said. “I had a reasonable set-up in DC, but never set it up quite right here. I don’t know why, but it’s all good now.”

“It looks like a proper recording studio,” Sara said, smiling to herself when she noticed a framed photo of herself and Ava on Ava’s desk.

As well as podcasting, Ava had slowly started a new hobby. During the drive back from Franklin the idea of a serial killer story starting in a small town had been running through her mind, keeping her entertained during the long drive back to Star City. She hadn’t thought anything would come of it, but the idea persisted. Ava would find herself daydreaming about her characters and the various red herrings in the plot during meetings and losing her train of thought when writing emails, so she’d begun to write her ideas down. What started as a few dot-points outlining the plot morphed into a thousand-word summary, which slowly grew into chapters of a story. Ava was sure the story was clichéd and full of tropes, but she didn’t care. She didn’t even care if no one ever read it, it was the act of writing, of getting words on the page that she was enjoying.

“I’d be happy to read it,” Sara said over FaceTime after Ava told her what she’d been doing as well as her usual research for the podcast.

“I thought you hated serial killer stories,” Ava said, raising her eyebrows.

“When they’re real I do,” Sara said. “It’s not so bad when I know they’re made up. And you can tell me how it ends, so it’s not so bad.”

“I’m only 15,000 words in,” Ava said.

Sara shrugged. “Whenever you’re ready. Oh, is it ok if we have lunch with my dad next weekend?”

“Of course,” Ava said. “On Saturday?”

“Yep. He said there’s some new waterfront place he wants to go to? It is possible he’s thinking of one which opened sometime last year, though. Or any time in the past five years, really.”

Ava laughed. “Anywhere is fine. Speaking of parents, I had a chat with mom earlier and she’s thinking they’ll be coming through Star City in the middle of June on their trip up to Canada.”

Sara opened her diary and had a look at the dates. “Well, that’ll either be very convenient or really annoying when it comes to me meeting your folks,” she said, holding up the diary to the screen so Ava could see which weekends Sara had penciled in to come to Star City.

“I’ll ask mom to confirm the date,” Ava said with a smile. “She’s really keen to meet you.”

“Same here,” Sara said.

Another week went by, and Ava was looking forward to Sara’s bi-weekly visit as always. However, when she arrived, Sara stalked in, dropped her bag in the hall and walked straight past Ava into the bedroom. Ava watched her, worried and confused. She’d never seen Sara like this before. Sara had sent Ava a message before leaving Franklin saying she was feeling out of sorts and would be arriving in Star City later than usual, and Ava had assumed Sara had meant she was feeling unwell, but this was different. Ava went into the bedroom and looked at Sara lying on her stomach, hugging the pillow, breathing heavily and looking away from Ava. Ava wasn’t sure what to do, and considered messaging Zari.

“Is there anything I can do to help?” Ava asked quietly. Sara didn’t respond, so Ava went and sat on her side of the bed. “Please talk to me, babe. You’re scaring me.”

Sara took a moment to respond. “I’ve felt shitty for days.”

“Ah - I’m going to need more than that, Sara. Do you feel unwell?” Ava felt like she was walking on eggshells. Maybe messaging Zari would be better.

“I feel like shit because it’s all my fault. Laurel helped people. She actually helped, she made a difference and she never would have been out that night if not for me. I’m just a glorified bus-driver but Laurel actually helped and I should have died, not her. It shouldn’t have been her…” Sara said before her voice broke and she started to sob.

“Oh,” Ava said. “Sara, that…” Ava stopped, realising that nothing she could say was going to help. She pulled Sara into her lap and held her while she cried, gently rocking backwards and forwards. Ava didn’t know the exact details around Laurel’s death; Sara had never volunteered them, and Ava had never asked.

“She helped the people no one else could. That no one else wanted to. And I flew people around for fun. She was so much better and so good and…”

“Hey, Sara, you - you’re good too. You’re very good,” Ava said, rubbing Sara’s back.

“I just miss her,” Sara said, mumbling into Ava’s shoulder as she clung to her shirt.

“I know. I’m sorry,” Ava said.

Sara sighed heavily. “It’s not even an important date. I just - almost all week I’ve been… I even called the damn grief counselling service.”

“Oh,” Ava said. “That - that’s good, Sara. That’s a good thing to do. Is there anything I can do?”

“You’re already doing it,” Sara said, still not letting go or looking up.

Ava kissed the top of her head and gave her a squeeze. “Do you feel like this often?” she asked as gently as she could.

Sara sighed again, but Ava could feel her heartbeat slowing as she calmed down. “Not very often, and not as much as I used to. When it first happened - god, it was so awful. I couldn’t even get from my hospital bed to the bathroom by myself and it was so hard to mourn properly and… she was so good, Ava. She was so kind, and so… good. And I… I miss her so much. Even now.”

“That’s ok,” Ava said. “You’re always allowed to miss her.”

“I almost wish you were there,” Sara said. “But I think you were where you were supposed to be.”

Ava gave Sara another squeeze. “I’ve wished that too,” she admitted, “But I think you’re right.”

“You’re here now,” Sara mumbled.

“I’m here now,” Ava said, rubbing Sara’s back.

Sara lifted her head and finally looked at at Ava. “Hi,” she said, her eyes wet with tears.

“Hi. Hungry?” Ava asked with a small smile.

“Famished. Take-out?” Sara suggested, reaching up to wipe her eyes.

“Definitely.”

“Sorry for showing up like this without warning,” Sara said and swallowed.

“I knew you were coming.”

“I mean not telling you I was going to have a meltdown about Laurel. Please don’t mention it to my dad tomorrow. I’ll tell him over FaceTime once I’m back in Franklin.”

“Ok,” Ava said. “And, well… this happens, I guess. Thank-you for talking to me about it now. And please tell me if it happens again.”

Sara nodded. “I will. And I am glad I didn’t die,” she said quietly, again resting her head against Ava’s shoulder, “Because you make me really happy. I only wish Laurel hadn’t either.” Sara swallowed back more tears.

“You don’t have to hold it in with me, babe,” Ava said, “You know that.”

A sob escaped Sara. “But we don’t get to see each other that often and I - I don’t want to be sad and Laurel wouldn’t want me being sad but I - I…”

“Hey, it’s ok,” Ava said, holding Sara tightly while she cried. “And I know I never met her, but I don’t think Laurel would want you blaming yourself for what happened.”

“I know. But I still do,” Sara said.

Again, Ava waited until Sara was calmer before asking, “What do you want for dinner?”

“Pizza,” Sara sniffed.

“Ok,” Ava said.

“Have you ordered?” Sara asked after a couple of minutes.

“No,” Ava said. “I’ve been holding you.”

Sara looked up, her eyes red. “Can’t you multi-task?” she teased and wiped her eyes with the back of her sleeve.

“My phone is on the charger in the kitchen,” Ava said.

“Oh,” said Sara, disentangling herself from Ava. She sat opposite and folded her legs. “I am sorry about all this.”

“Nothing to be sorry about.”

“I’ll be better company tomorrow, I promise.”

“Babe, honestly, I’m not worried. I’d rather you be upset with me than alone.”

Sara said nodded, knowing that what Ava said was true. “Did I bring my bag in or leave it in the car?”

“You dumped it in the hallway.”

“Oh. Sorry about that. I might have a shower now.”

“Ok,” Ava said, “I’ll order the pizza. Usual order?”

“Yes, please,” Sara said as they climbed off the bed.

Ava placed their pizza order, knowing it would be slow being peak take-away hour on a Friday night, and listened to the water running in the ensuite as she took Sara’s bag into the bedroom. She wished there was more she could do for Sara, and hoped that being here really was enough, as Sara claimed it to be.

“Hey, Ava? Can I show you something?” Sara asked when she emerged from the bedroom ten minutes later in her pyjamas and fluffy pink slippers, with damp hair and smelling clean and fresh. “It’s kind of heavy, but… I’d like you to see. And I’m guessing the pizzas aren’t here yet?”

Ava looked up, not knowing what Sara was talking about. “On their way,” Ava said. “What do you want me to see?”

Sara held up her phone. “I haven’t looked at them since dad first sent them to me a couple of years ago. I remember everything about them, though,” she said.

“What are they?” Ava asked.

“Photos,” Sara said. “Of me. It’s ok, they’re not gory or anything, and I didn’t let him send me any while I was… well, when I was in a much worse state than I am in these photos. There’s only four.”

Ava nodded and led Sara to the couch, deciding that if Sara was willing to talk about this and show her, then Ava was more than willing to listen.

Sara curled up by Ava’s side, and opened up the photos app, then a folder called ‘From Dad’. She opened the first photo and turned her phone to the side, so that it filled the whole screen. “This one is still in Germany, the day before I left,” Sara said.

Ava looked at the photo of Quentin sitting beside Sara who was propped up in the hospital bed, looking as pale as bleached bedsheets, the pattern on the hospital gown doing nothing for her. There was an IV line in her hand, and her eyes looked flat and glazed. Beside the bed was one of the Funko Pop figurines that now lived in her office which Ava had seen sitting behind Sara on so many FaceTime calls.

“That’s…”

“I look like shit,” Sara said. “You can say it because it’s true. I felt like shit, too. I had a lot of trouble with painkillers, as so many of them made me vomit and those that didn’t make me physically ill messed with my head, so getting the combination right was a challenge. I don’t remember much in Germany. I know Charlie came to visit, and her being there made me feel better. She was able to help in a way that dad and Laurel and even Gideon didn’t realise I needed to be helped. And I remember Laurel holding me. I’m pretty sure that was still in Germany. She climbed onto the bed and arranged me in her arms and just - held me.”

Ava held Sara closer and kissed the top of her head. “Did you know you were going back to America?”

“I don’t know,” Sara said. “Sort of. I think I was told, but lots of people told me lots of things, and all I could really think about was how horrible and sick I felt. I was aware that I wasn’t going back to my tiny flat on London though, and I think I was feeling homesick for that too. Not that I was well enough to articulate it. Gideon took that photo. Laurel had gone back to America the week before. I think Gideon knew it would be a while before we saw one another again.”

“Why doesn’t she come here?” Ava asked gently, rubbing Sara’s arm.

Sara gave a small shrug. “Similar reasons as to why I haven’t gone back? I don’t know. I haven’t asked, and she hasn’t told me, but she’s never stopped looking out for me.” She swiped to the next photo. “This one is kind of the same, but back here, and no more IV,” Sara said, forcing a smile.

Ava examined the photo of Sara and Laurel. There was a tiny bit more colour in Sara’s cheeks and a little more life to her generally, though that could be the light. She was wearing a black zip-up hoodie, with blankets tucked up to her waist. Laurel sat smiling beside her.

“The next one is silly,” Sara said, swiping across again.

“What’s wrong with that?” Ava asked, looking at the picture of Sara lying on the hospital bed in sweatpants, socks and a t-shirt, the plastic hospital bracelet her only accessory. She was smiling and giving a thumbs-up, and looked a lot more like herself.

“Laurel took this and sent it to dad with the caption ‘Sara in real clothes for the first time in months!!!!’ with a lot of exclamation marks. It felt so good to get dressed in real clothes, rather than a hospital gown and hoodie.”

“You were rocking the hospital gown in the previous photos,” Ava teased lightly.

“It was all I could wear because I couldn’t get pants on,” Sara said. “One more. Though this isn’t a photo, it’s a video. It’s very short, but… you’ll see.”

Once again Sara swiped across, then pressed play on the video.

_“Don’t fucking move,”_ Sara in the video said through gritted teeth, standing beside her bed, gripping Laurel’s forearms. A man Ava didn’t recognise stood beside Sara, braced to grab her if need be. Again Sara was wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt, but seeing her standing up, the clothing almost looked too big.

_“I’m not going anywhere,”_ Laurel said with a big smile.

_“You’re wobbling.”_

_“You’re wobbling! But who cares, you’re standing up, Sara! Woo!”_

_“Well done, Sara!”_ said the mystery man. _“Just hold it for three… two… one… Excellent.”_ He took hold of Sara’s arm and slowly lowered her back to sit on the bed. Laurel held up her hand and Sara gave her a high-five.

The video stopped.

“One of the nurses took that,” Sara said. “The guy was one of my physios. I had a whole team of them, because there were students training at the time and I was a fairly complex case. I guess the film is fairly self-explanatory.”

“That was the first time you stood up?”

“Without someone else supporting me, yeah,” Sara said. “Getting in and out of bed by myself was the goal we were working on at the time. Obviously I’m holding onto Laurel for dear life, but no one else is holding onto me. It’s been a long time since I heard her voice,” she said quietly.

“Thank-you for sharing these,” Ava said, holding Sara as tightly as she could.

Sara nodded and turned her phone-screen off, placing it on the couch and holding onto Ava with both arms. “It wouldn’t have been possible without you,” Sara said. “Because you are extraordinary. And a badass.”

“I don’t feel very badass. You’re a badass.”

“Being a badass is hard,” Sara mumbled. “Is it ok if I talk about flying planes now to distract myself from feeling sad?”

“You can always talk about planes, honey,” Ava said, caressing Sara’s hair.

Ava listened to Sara talk about flying through the Northern Lights and watching the sun rise or set for a whole eight-hour flight. Their pizzas finally arrived and they made short work of them, the conversation drifting to in-flight meals. Once they had finished their dinner, Ava put a playlist on. She held her hand out to Sara.

“What?” Sara asked.

“Do you trust me?”

Sara pursed her lips and took Ava’s hand, letting Ava pull her to her feet. Ava placed her hands on Sara’s hips, and Sara reluctantly put her hands on Ava’s shoulders.

“This isn’t really dancing,” Sara mumbled as they rocked slowly from side-to-side.

“What is it then?” Ava asked, enjoying the motion of their bodies moving in time together with the music.

“Old-people shuffling,” Sara said.

Ava smiled. “I can change the song.”

“I didn’t say I didn’t like it,” Sara said. “It’s just not dancing.”

“Ok,” said Ava, deciding against trying to hold a proper conversation with what constituted the act of dancing with Sara in this state. “Well, I like old-people shuffling with you.”

Sara wrapped her arms around Ava’s neck. “Thank-you,” she said. “I’m sorry I ask so much of you all the time. But I never ask what you want.”

“I want this. You and me, for real,” said Ava.

Sara smiled. “Good. So do I.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Five more chapters to go! Thanks so much everyone for your continuing support of this story :)


	24. Chapter 24

Sara sat on the couch, half-watching whatever was on TV after having scrolled through all of Netflix and decided upon nothing, and half lost in her own thoughts. She wished she could go to Star City to spend every weekend with Ava, but it wasn’t practical. Her phone sat beside her on the couch and she considered calling Ava. She looked up and her eyes fell on the photo with Laurel and Oliver.

“Yeah, I know,” Sara said to the photo. “But you… it - I… I don’t know. And, yes, calling Ava would be a cop-out. By talking to her, I’d distract myself for long enough to forget. Or pretend to forget. Or tell myself I’ll do it next weekend, when I’m with Ava, because being with her makes me feel brave and capable and like I can do anything. Only this weekend I’m meeting her parents, so its not fair if I’m having an existential crisis as well.”

Sara went to stand up, but only got part-way before sitting back down. Doing anything else was procrastinating. She could feel her heart threatening to leap out of her chest as she picked up her phone, and wasn’t sure if that was a perfectly normal response or is she was overreacting and completely overthinking things.

“It’s ok to be scared,” Sara muttered as much to herself as to the photo. “But I have to have more hope than fear, right? Even if it’s only a 51/49 split. And I have Ava and…” Sara trailed off and sighed. The smiling figures in the photo made no response.

Oliver had paid for everything Sara’s insurance hadn’t covered. He’d hadn’t told anyone he was doing that, he’d just done it. Once she found out, Sara had offered to pay him back, but he had refused. She tried to think of the last time she’d seen him, but the fun times they’d had when he’d come to London on business trips, often bringing Felicity in the later years, filled her mind instead. Sara remembered him coming to the rehab hospital a couple of times, including once or twice with Felicity in the months after Laurel died, but they didn’t keep in touch, not because they didn’t care about one another; it was just easier this way. Without Laurel…

Sara sighed and swallowed. Laurel had never given up on her. She’d held Sara when she was at her weakest, stayed with her overnight when she couldn’t sleep, or the pain medication was arguably making her sicker than she would be without it. Laurel had recounted Sara’s own tales and adventures to her once she realised that Sara needed distraction from her situation as much as she needed medical help. Sara could hear Laurel’s voice, _“You have to get me a seat on board the first time you’re in the cockpit again. I wanna be there when First Officer Sara Lance is back piloting the plane.”_

Sara looked at the phone screen and took a deep breath. Stalling wasn’t fair on Oliver or Gideon, who helped her behind the scenes without her ever needing to be asked. Or on Charlie, who had moved across the world to make sure she’d be ok in the mean time. It wasn’t fair on Laurel. And it wasn’t fair on Ava. Sara knew she was a good as sabotaging their future if she didn’t at least try. She opened up her messages.

**Sara:** Ready

…

Ava sat in a meeting, listening to her co-workers try to explain away their slowness and general incompetence over the past couple of weeks, and though she should be paying attention, her thoughts kept drifting back to her story. She’d written 5,000 words over the weekend, getting down all the story she had in mind, and the mundane meeting seemed to set the creative part of her brain working again. Ava didn’t really care about the meeting of the teams’ sloppy performance of late; they were on target, there’d been no major mess-ups and anyone with less exacting standards than her, which was everyone else in the room, wouldn’t be worried at all.

Ava tried to listen to Bill from legal as he droned on, but she had no idea what he was talking about and would read his notes later on. Her phone sat on the table beside her as she was waiting for a call from a counter-part in DC which would get her out of this meeting. Bill finished his attempt at boring the room to death, causing Ava to wonder if boredom could be a method of murder for a serial killer, before Sandi, who was facilitating the meeting, asked everyone to break into ‘triads’, a stupid term for groups of three, Ava thought, to discuss their next steps. Ava wondered why she bothered delegating jobs like chairing the meeting. Sure, letting Sandi do it developed her skills, but it meant the meeting went for twice as long as need be, and they had to do ridiculous tasks like this.

Ava prompted Casey to talk about her team first. Being the manager had some perks. Ava didn’t feel like talking, but she didn’t feel like listening either. Suddenly her phone flashed, not with the expected phone call, but with a message from Nate. Ava’s eyes glanced at the message which was just three emojis, but she assumed there was a photo as well which she could look at later.

“Is that your sister?” Casey asked, looking at the background photo on Ava’s phone of her and Sara in the woods in Franklin.

“No,” Ava said. As much as she wanted to tell Casey to mind her own business, she wasn’t going to hide or deny her relationship with Sara. Most of these people knew she was gay and had a partner, but Ava didn’t advertise the fact. “That’s my girlfriend Sara.”

“Oh, you look so alike,” Casey said.

Ava decided that Casey must not have seen the photo all that well, as she and Sara didn’t look alike at all apart from having blonde hair. Even then, Sara dyed her hair much lighter than Ava’s natural honey-blonde. “Not really,” Ava said, before realising that this was probably a rouse to get her to open up about her personal life. Casey and some of the others would be bound to gossip about this later. Ava’s phone flashed again. She turned it over and flicked the sound on.

“Is that her messaging?” Casey asked with a cutesy smile.

“It’s my brother,” Ava said sternly. No one knew she was an only-child. None of this was their business. Ava took a deep breath. Almost six months down, six to go. “Ok, Mark, what’s your team been up to this week? I know you’ve had a couple of people take some leave wanting to avoid the school holiday rush, but how have things been going?”

The conversation moved on, and a couple of minutes later Ava received the awaited phone call and excused herself from the meeting. Once she had finished the call, she remained hidden in her office, going through her emails. Why did find these people so irritating? Gary would have asked her about Sara months ago, and she would have told him bits and pieces. Hell, Gary _had_ asked. He’d known why Ava had taken the redundancy package and moved to across the country Star City last year. On top of that, he’d supported her, so much so that it had been annoying, but at least he was on her side. He still listened to StabCast and regularly commented on social media about it. Maybe that was it. These people didn’t ask; they snooped or made assumptions. And as she’d always thought, they weren’t _her_ people, and they didn’t want to be.

Ava looked at her phone and considered messaging Sara. She should reply to Nate. Ava looked at the time: quarter past one. No wonder she was grumpy, she needed lunch. Ava grabbed her sunglasses, purposefully leaving her phone behind, and headed outside, hoping the fresh air and something to eat would clear her mind and improve her mood.

…

“Hey Cap, I’m guessing Z’s out in the hanger?” Charlie asked, leaning against Sara’s office door. The school had a student-free report-writing day, and given the time, Sara guessed Charlie was here on a lunch-related matter. “She’s not in her office. Sara?”

“Hmm?” Sara looked up from her computer.

“Is Zari in the hanger?” Charlie repeated more slowly.

“Probably,” Sara said.

“You ok?” Charlie asked, raising an eyebrow and entering Sara’s office.

Sara took a deep breath and leant back in her chair. “Trying to be cool when I’m definitely not feeling it.”

“What’s up?” Charlie asked, leaning against Sara’s desk.

Sara grabbed her phone, opened it, then handed it to Charlie.

Charlie read what was on the screen, a smile slowly breaking across her face. “Sara, this is bloody brilliant!”

“To be honest, I’m trying not to freak out,” Sara confessed.

“Have you told Ava?”

“Not yet,” Sara said, her heart pounding in her chest. “I only got that this morning. Besides, she’ll be busy at work.”

“Book tickets now,” Charlie said, handing Sara back her phone. “Or I’ll call Gideon and get her to do it for you.”

“I need Ava’s passport number.”

“Message her,” Charlie said.

“Who knows their passport number? I’ll wait until she goes home,” Sara said, not sure why she was still procrastinating and making excuses, but she was finding everything a lot to handle. It still hadn’t sunk in that she’d finally sent the message and received a prompt, polite and positive response.

“Ava’s the sort of person who would,” Charle said. “Or she’ll have it written down.”

“Stop being right,” Sara mumbled, trying to feign crossness but failing terribly.

Charlie flashed her winning grin. “Come on, Cap. Come here.”

Sara stood up and was glad of the hug Charlie offered. Though it was Ava’s arms she really wanted, Charlie was a very good substitute.

“Have you told Z?” Charlie asked, eventually letting go of Sara.

“No,” Sara said. “Right now, only you and Gideon know. I spoke to her earlier.”

“Can I tell Z?”

“If you can find her,” Sara said.

Charlie smiled. “So you’ll be making the shift back across the pond with us?”

“It would be irresponsible to let you return by yourself, even with Zari. I can’t expect Gideon to take care of both of you and the cats.”

“Oi!” Charlie laughed, playing punching Sara’s arm. “This is wonderful, though, Sara.”

“There’s still a chance that…”

“Yeah, but there’s a heaps bigger chance that everything will turn out just how you want.”

Sara swallowed and nodded.

“Message Ava now,” Charlie said. “I’ll go find Z.”

“Take a vest,” Sara said, grabbing her high-vis vest off the back of her chair and tossing it to Charlie.

“I’ll come see how you’ve gotten on once I’ve found Zari, yeah?” Charlie said, pulling the vest on.

Sara took a deep breath, feeling bolstered by Charlie’s encouragement and enthusiasm. “You know where to find me.”

…

Ava did feel better after her walk and some lunch. When she returned to the office, she managed to get a drink of water from the tiny excuse of an office kitchen and return to her office without having spoken to anyone. She was settling in for a long afternoon of paperwork, when her phone buzzed.

**Sara:** What’s your passport number?

**Ava:** Give me a minute, I’ll have to check.

**Ava:** Also why? If you don’t mind me asking

Ava had a photo on her phone of her passport from her previous international travels. She found the photo and wrote down the number, ready to send to Sara.

**Sara:** image.attachement

Ava waited a moment for the image to open, adding the office wifi to the list of things which annoyed her, and she looked at the screenshot Sara had sent her. It took Ava a moment to realise what she was looking at, and a smile broke out across her face. She quickly changed the app to FaceTime Sara.

“Gideon sent you a date?” Ava asked as way of greeting.

“Actually, I got a very official email from BA. I spoke to Gideon this morning too,” Sara said. “It’s not too presumptuous hoping that you’ll come with me? If you can’t take the time off or - ”

“Of course I’m coming with you, you goober,” Ava said, beaming. “Sara, this is fantastic. I’m so proud of you, babe.”

“I’m freaking out a little bit, to be honest. Charlie convinced me to book the flights, making it really real, so we’re going and I can’t back out of it. Oh, Charlie already knows, by the way. She sort of ambushed me at work and I’ll admit I needed a hug. And Gideon knows, obviously.”

“That’s fine. I can’t wait to see you on Friday, babe,” Ava said, wishing she could give Sara a hug too. “So, when are we going?”

“Six and a half weeks,” Sara said. “The dates are on that screenshot I sent.”

“Plenty of time for me to sort it out with work,” Ava said, planning to fill out the online leave form as soon as she got off the phone.

“Only for five nights, too, sorry. It’s a long way on a long-haul flight, and you’ll hardly scratch the surface of London in that amount of time, but - ”

“Babe, it doesn’t matter. It’ll be great. I know it.”

Sara couldn’t help but smile. “I’m looking forward to introducing you to Gideon. And to seeing her again, of course. Plus Charlie and Zari will be there by then.”

“Oh, yeah,” Ava said. “And I’m sure you have lots of favourite places to show me.”

Sara nodded. “Can I call you back in five? I want to finish the booking.”

“I’ll send you my passport number. Let me send you some money too.”

“Babe, please,” Sara said with a smirk, “Trust me when I say I have access to cheap flights.”

Ava grinned. “I’ll talk to you shortly.”

“You’ll have bought the Lonely Planet guidebook by time I forward you the ticket confirmation, yes?”

“I like to be prepared,” Ava pouted, feeling called out. Of course she was going to by the guidebook. It didn’t matter if Sara had lived in London for years, Ava wanted to have the latest information for tourists, and knew that even though Sara was teasing her, she understood how Ava liked to be prepared.

“Is it ok if I call you straight back? I know you’re at work,” Sara said.

“Of course you can. Looks like you’re at work too.”

“Yeah, but… you know,” Sara said.

“I’m putting in for leave right now.”

“Love you,” Sara said with a grin.

“Love you too,” Ava said as she hung up, her day suddenly elevated from rather rubbish to absolutely wonderful.


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank-you everyone for your continuing support of this story. We're getting towards the end now! 
> 
> In Arrow you see BA planes at Star City Airport, but it wouldn’t be feasible for the airline to fly a 12 hour flight to a city of just around 600,000 people, as generally long haul = big plane, hence why Sara and Ava go to San Fran for their flight. There’s no direct service from Portland either, though there is from Seattle. 

The weeks passed quickly, and in the days leading up to their trip to London, Sara had been close to bursting with nervous energy. She’d driven to Star City to stay with Ava for a couple of nights, giving hers time to visit her dad while Ava was at work, before they drove down to San Francisco for their flight. On the morning of their flight, Ava triple checked that they had everything, but soon realised that Sara could pack perfectly with her eyes closed if need be, and hadn’t forgotten a single thing. Ava hadn’t been sure about Sara driving, but soon realised that being behind the wheel gave her something to concentrate on other than the flight and the coming week.

They arrived in San Fran with plenty of time to spare, and parked in the long-term carpark, catching the mini-bus to the International Terminal. The airport itself was busy, but there was no queue at the British Airways check-in counter as they were so early.

“I didn’t recognise anyone at the desk,” Sara said after they'd checked in their bags and made their way towards passport control after a quick bathroom break.

“Were you expecting to?” Ava asked, taking their tickets out of her handbag.

Sara shrugged. “You never know.”

They scanned their tickets and entered the international terminal proper, joining winding through the barriers to join queue for security.

“You ok?” Ava asked, taking Sara’s hand as they waited.

“Fine,” Sara said, the nervous energy having returned. She wanted to go for a run. The lights and smells and warnings and posters were all so familiar and almost comforting.

Ava squeezed her hand. “What’s up?”

“Other than the part where I haven’t flown in three years and I’m supposed to be a pilot?”

“You’re not flying the plane today, babe,” Ava said, rubbing Sara’s hand. The queue shuffled forward. “Also if you keep buzzing about like that, anyone’s going to think you’re on crack. Or smuggling it. Or both.”

“Oh shut-up,” Sara laughed. “That security guy is going to be a dick, I bet you.”

Ava looked ahead to the TSA agent at the body scanner they were lined up to go through.

“Isn’t there protocol around people with a whole lot of metal in their body?”

“Yep,” Sara said. “And 100% that guy is not going to give a damn.”

“You can charm him round,” Ava said, not letting go of Sara’s hand. “Give me your bag and I’ll take care of these, you go and I’ll meet you on the other side.”

Sara took her satchel off and handed it to Ava.

“Anything in your pockets?”

“Seriously, babe?” Sara said, raising her eyebrows. That morning she had been the one advising Ava on which shoes and pants to wear so as not to set of the metal detectors.

“Sorry, babe,” Ava said. They reached the front of the line. Ava grabbed two tubs to place their bags in, and then another for her handbag, which she began pulling items out of for ease of scanning.

“I’ll meet up with you in a moment,” Sara said, heading straight towards the TSA guy.

Ava shuffled along, pushing the tubs along the conveyor. She looked over her shoulder at Sara talking to the TSA guy. Ava reached the front of the line and walked through the full-body metal detector. It didn’t beep, so she waited on the other side for their bags to come through. Ava re-packed her handbag, pulled on her backpack, threw Sara’s satchel over her shoulder, then looked around to see where Sara was. Ava spotted her, still talking with the TSA agent on the other side of the security screener. Sara caught Ava’s eye and gave her a tense smile, before the man waved Sara through the metal detector. As expected, the buzzer went off, but it gave Ava the opportunity to rejoin her girlfriend.

“No bystanders,” the TSA agent said, trying to wave Ava off.

“I’m her girlfriend,” said Ava.

“Like I said, I’m going to have to give you a pat-down,” the TSA guy said gruffly to Sara, ignoring Ava.

“And I’ve already told you that you’re not touching me, and I want one of the female agents to do that.”

“They’re busy.”

“I can see four of them doing bag checks. You could take over for one minute.”

“I don’t know who you think you are, ma’am - ”

“Did you know that at airports in the Middle East, they have women security agents to scan the female travellers?”

“No they don’t.”

“Well, they do, and pretty sure I’ve been there a lot more than you. Look, can we just get this over with.”

“Sure, I just need to pat you down, ma’am. And you, ma’am,” he said to Ava, “I said no bystanders. Keep moving.”

“I literally have her passport and ticket in my bag,” Ava said. “She can't go anywhere with me, and I’m not going anywhere without her.”

“And I am not comfortable with you touching me. Call your manager if you want, but you are not touching me,” Sara asserted, her body tense as she kept eye contact with the man whole was a whole head taller than her.

The man rolled his eyes and wandered over to the nearest baggage checkpoint, briefly explaining the situation to the woman checking the x-rays of the bags. She nodded and came over to Sara.

“I’m sorry about that, ma’am,” she mumbled, grabbing the scanner-wand and waving it over Sara’s body. It beeped as it went over Sara’s right leg. “I’m just going to have to pat you down.”

“That’s ok,” Sara said stiffly, as the woman patted her arms and legs.

“You’re good to go.”

“Thanks,” Sara said, taking Ava’s hand and heading towards the duty-free zone as quickly as she could.

“You ok, babe?” Ava asked.

“I hate to say I told you so… but I told you so.”

Ava suppressed a sigh and forced Sara to slow down. “Would you like your bag back?”

“Ok,” Sara said. They stopped in front of a perfume stand and Ava gave Sara back her satchel.

“You can tell me to mind my own business, or you don’t want to talk about it here, and maybe it’s stupid that I’ve only just realised it, but you don’t like people touching you, do you?”

“I’ve never been particularly physically affectionate. You’re the exception,” Sara said, giving Ava a small smile. They wandered pass the rest of the duty-free stalls into the food court. “But after what happened, and then all the time spent in hospital… I needed help. Physical help, all the time. And the majority of doctors and nurses and other associated hangers-on were really good at telling me what they’re going to do, how they’re going to move me, where they’re going to put their hands. But sometimes, some days… I just wanted it to stop. I didn’t want anyone touching me, for any reason but because I was so helpless, I couldn’t say no, but… well, the whole thing just sucked. What rice-based dish do you want for dinner?”

Ava gave Sara’s hand a squeeze, recognising that Sara’s change of topic meant end of conversation. “Rice-based?”

“No pasta before flying. Or kebabs. Or eating that type of food on board. It sits in your gut and if we get any turbulence, it’s more likely to make a reappearance.”

“What about rice paper rolls from that Vietnamese place?” Ava suggested, nodding towards a brightly-lit food stall.

“Good idea,” said Sara.

Once they’d eaten, they still had an hour to kill before boarding, so grabbed a magazine each at the newsagent/bookstore, and found a seat near their gate.

“I probably could have dealt with that TSA guy better. It’ll probably become a conversation I have more often,” Sara said, flicking through the latest issue of _Empire_ magazine. She was sitting sideways in her chair so she could tuck her legs up, fitting her feet underneath the armrest. “Thanks for hanging around, or I probably would have smacked him.”

“He has it coming,” Ava said, part way through an article about the latest archaeological discoveries in Egypt in _National Geographic_. “But no one should have to deal with that shit. Is there someone we could complain to?”

“Not anyone who’ll do anything about it,” Sara grumbled.

“Hey, babe? Want a photo next to our plane?” Ava asked, hoping to cheer Sara up again.

“Maybe on the way home,” Sara said, looking blankly at the magazine.

“It’s going to be ok, Sara. Whatever happens.”

An announcement came over the tannoy. “Good evening passengers. This is the pre-boarding announcement for British Airways Flight 286 to London. We are now inviting passengers with small children, and any passengers requiring special assistance to begin boarding at this time. Passengers in Business and First Class may board at their leisure. Please have your boarding pass and passport ready. Regular boarding will begin in approximately ten minutes time. Thank you.”

“Do you need special assistance?” Ava asked with a smirk.

“Shut-up,” Sara said.

Ava chuckled and poked Sara’s shoulder. “You’re excited and you know it.”

“Have you seen the flight crew?” Sara asked, not sure if she was more excited or nervous.

“I’m not sure,” Ava said. “There were a few guys walking around before who looked like pilots, but I’m not sure if they were for our plane. Why?”

“Just wondering,” Sara said.

They soon joined the slow-moving queue to board the plane. Ava was starting to get a bit sick of queuing, but she knew there’d be plenty more of it before they reached their hotel at the other end of the journey.

“Babe, did you book us Premium Economy?” Ava whispered to Sara as they shuffled down the aisle towards their seats. The premium economy cabin was set in a 2-4-2 configuration, and Ava noticed that given the row numbers, their seats had to be in this section.

“You’re about 8 foot tall, babe. I wasn’t going to put you in cattle class down the back. Besides, this way we get a window seat and an aisle seat.”

“I’m five-foot-eight, honey, I’m not that tall, but good thinking,” Ava said as Sara came to a halt at their seats. They took what they needed out of their bags, then shoved what they could into the overhead lockers before taking their seats. Sara sat with her seatbelt buckled and her hands in her lap. Ava fiddled with her headphones and pushed her folded magazine into the chair-back pouch.

Sara took Ava’s hand as the plane started taxiing, holding it with a white-knuckle grip as though she was a nervous first-time flyer. Ava didn’t complain as she gently rubbed her thumb across the back of Sara’s hand.

“Good evening passengers. This is your captain speaking. First I'd like to welcome everyone onboard British Airways Flight 286 from San Fransisco International Airport to London Heathrow. My name is Lewis Wilson and I am joined in the cockpit by First Officers Leonard Snart and Lindsay Turner.”

Sara didn’t hear the rest of the announcement. She didn’t need to, it was something she’d heard her captains say hundreds if not thousands of times. She knew what the average altitude was going to be and the estimated airspeed. She’d checked the weather across northern America and the Atlantic before they left, so understood the conditions. What she had not been prepared for was the First Officer. As soon as the announcement finished, Sara waved over one of the flight attendants.

“What’s up, babe?” Ava asked.

“Hang on,” Sara said, never letting go of Ava’s hand as the flight attendant approached.

“Can I help you, ma’am?”

“Hi. I’m First Officer Sara Lance,” Sara said, pulling an ID card out of her pocket with her spare hand. “Could you please tell First Officer Snart that I’m on board? It’s ok, he knows who I am. I was part of his wedding party.”

“Of course, ma’am,” the flight attendant with a polite smile and disappeared up the aisle.

“Wait, who is this guy?” Ava asked.

Sara turned back to her girlfriend. “Leonard Snart is my buddy Leo. I was the groomsmaid at his wedding.”

“There’s photos of you trying on dresses for that on Instagram. He’s the one from pilot school who realised you were into girls?”

“Yep,” Sara said, “That’s the one. They had a ‘social media free’ wedding which is why there’s no picture of me in the final dress, but Leo allowed me to post pictures of me in dresses we didn’t end up choosing.”

“Did you know he was going to be on this flight?”

“No,” Sara said. “And I don’t know if he knew I’d be on it either. But Gideon did, and I’m convinced she has her toe in the scheduling door despite her protestations, so she would have made sure Leo was flying.”

“And that card?” Ava asked, looking at the ID card in Sara’s hand.

“It’s out of date, but she didn’t notice,” Sara said, handing the card to Ava. “We’re supposed to get new ones every twelve months. I didn’t for the obvious reasons.”

Ava looked at the British Airways ID card, and the passport-like photo of Sara wearing a navy blue blazer, tie and white shirt, with her hair neatly pulled back.

“You kept this,” Ava said.

“I still have my uniform,” Sara said as the plane continued taxiing. “It’s in a suit bag in the back of my wardrobe. The stuff I had with me in Pakistan was sent back to Headquarters in London, and then Gideon had everything sent on to America. I grabbed that out my jacket pocket before I left Franklin, just incase the flight crew all passed out and they needed someone with some knowledge of landing jumbo jets. Though this is a 777 and I flew 787s, being a Boeing, the cockpit is pretty much the same, and this is a new aircraft so - ” Sara stopped at looked and Ava. “I probably should have mentioned the ID card.”

“It’s fine, honey,” Ava said. “I’m just happy to see you excited.”

“Excuse me, Ms Lance?” the flight attendant asked as the seat-belt sign flashed as the engines whirred, ready for take-off. “First Officer Snart would be happy for you to join him in the cockpit once we reach cruising altitude. I’ll come and let you know when you can go up.”

“Cabin crew, positions for take-off,” came the announcement over the inflight audio system.

“Thank-you,” Sara said to the flight attendant who quickly went and took her seat. Sara tried to keep her legs calm as she squeezed Ava’s hand while the plane began to race down the runway and into the sky. 

Once they were in above the clouds, Ava browsed the in-flight entertainment options, trying to decide what to watch before attempting to get some sleep. She had the feeling that Sara wasn’t going to sleep at all, and wasn’t even going to try. Shortly afterward, the flight attendant returned to escort Sara to the cockpit.

“Take your time,” Ava said with a smile.

“Thanks,” Sara grinned, fiddling with her seatbelt before shadowing the flight attendant down the aisle.

Ava’s film had just finished, and she was considering trying to find a comfortable position to get some sleep in, when Sara returned, grinning more broadly than Ava had seen before. Sara sat down, almost bursting with excitement. Ava lifted the armrest between their seats and wrapped her arms around Sara.

“It was that good, huh?”

“I missed it so much, I didn’t even realise,” Sara said, draping her legs over Ava’s and resting her head against Ava’s shoulder. Spending an hour and a half in the cockpit had meant everything, and made her more determined than ever. “I didn’t realise how much I missed Leo, and the Captain knew of me too. Turns out word travels when one of your own gets… in an accident. But Ava, seeing the sky like that, and the earth and… I love it, babe. I love it and I miss it so much.”

Ava kissed the side of Sara’s head. “I know you do. That’s why we’re here,” she said and yawned.

Sara nodded. “You’re allowed to go to sleep.”

“Are you going to sleep?”

“I doubt it,” Sara said, trying to force her seatbelt clasp out from underneath her where she was sitting on it. “I’ll find something to watch.”

“You’re going to watch the tracker map thing, aren’t you?”

“Probably. I’ll listen to some music too,” Sara smiled.

They rearranged themselves more conventionally in their seats, and Ava tried the first of many positions in which to try to sleep, but found herself waking every hour or so. The first time Sara was watching a Nigella cooking programme, the second time a nature documentary, and the third time Sara was asleep against Ava’s shoulder. Ava decided to watch something again herself, and after two episodes of _Blackadder_ , she fell asleep again.

When Ava awoke again, the seat beside her was empty. She stretched and wondered if Sara had been invited back to the cockpit. Ava undid her seatbelt and wandered up to the galley to use the bathroom, but spotted Sara crouched down, gazing out the small window.

“I’m not in the queue,” Sara muttered.

“It’s just me,” Ava said.

Sara looked up. “Oh. Hi, babe.”

“What are you looking at?”

“The world,” Sara said wistfully.

“You know I have a window seat.”

“Yeah, but all the window blinds are down, and they won’t want anyone opening them for another hour or so. I’m not in the way of the cabin crew, so I’m ok.”

Ava nodded. “Did you have a nice nap?”

Sara smiled. “Sorry if I woke you.”

“It’s fine,” Ava said. “I don’t think I’m going to sleep properly until I’m in a proper bed, anyway.” She caught Sara’s eyes drifting back to the window. “Do you want my seat for the rest of the flight?” Ava asked.

“They’ll serve breakfast in half an hour or so,” Sara said. “Maybe after that.”

“Of course,” Ava said. “And I actually am in the bathroom queue, so…”

“Go!” Sara laughed. “I’m not going anywhere.”

A couple of hours later they were making their final decent into Heathrow. Sara stared out the window at the scenery she’d flown over countless times before, Ava leaning across to get a glimpse of the city she was about to discover. Sara pointed out a few sights and Ava could hardly believe that she was seeing the Shard and the Eye and the Houses of Parliament from the air like this. Sara gripped Ava’s hand as they touched down, her heart pounding. As they made their way off the plane, they saw Leo from afar, who gave a waved and signalled for Sara to call him later. Sara nodded, and never letting go of Ava’s hand, leading the way through the skybridge and the rabbit-warren like terminal to passport control.

“Well, well, well. What’s immigration thinking of lettin’ in now?”

Sara stopped and turned towards the voice, spotting the man who looked a bit like Sting. “John Constantine,” she smiled.

“I’ll ‘ave to talk to bloody management and let ‘em know that we’ve got folks here about to let in Sara Lance of all people,” John said with a grin, sauntering over.

Sara beamed. “So they haven’t fired you, yet?”

“It’s amazing how rude you can be in this job and no one cares,” John said, giving Sara a hug.

“This is my girlfriend, Ava,” Sara said, stepping back and again taking Ava’s hand. She noticed the looks some people gave as they saw a passenger hug someone in border security uniform but she didn’t care. “Ava, this is John. He hates everyone, and therefore is a perfect employee for British Border Security, dealing with the very general public all day, every day.”

“Nice to meet you,” Ava said, unconvinced that it actually was.

“You too, love,” John said and checked his watch. “Right, time to go look disparagingly at some poor sods newly arrived off a long-haul flight, and question their arrivals cards. We’ll have to get a beer, yeah, Lance?”

“Message me,” Sara said.

“See you round, love,” John said and disappeared through a service door with a wave.

“Ready to cruise through passport control, find out bags and get to know London?” Sara said, never letting go of Ava’s hand as they joined the passport queue.

“Do you know _everyone_?” Ava asked.

Sara chuckled. “I used to. John’s all right once you get to know him. He does magic tricks at kids’ parties on weekends.”

“Seriously?”

“Yep. Everyone needs a hobby.”

“Wait,” Ava said. “Is that the John that you - “

“Yes he is.”

“Gross,” said Ava, screwing up her face.

Sara laughed. They soon cleared passport control, and headed towards the baggage collection area, Sara swinging their hands, the giant ‘Welcome’ posters around the concourse welcoming Sara back to her adopted home and Ava to the city for the first time.


	26. Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time for some travelling vicariously with Sara and Ava in London! 
> 
> Thank-you everyone for your continued support and kudos and comments. It means a lot :)

Jet lag meant that both Sara and Ava were awake early the following morning. They lay in bed and talked for a little while before getting up and dressed, and headed down to the breakfast room at exactly 7 o’clock when it opened. Ava had a hearty breakfast of bacon, eggs, baked beans, tomato, and nice brown bread, whereas Sara stuck to a croissant and an apple. A lot of Sara’s excitement had been replaced by nervousness for the medical examination at BA the following day, but she was determined not to spoil today for Ava. There was so much she wished to show Ava and so little time to see it all at the moment, that Sara didn’t want to waste any of it letting her nerves get the better of her.

After they’d arrived at their hotel the previous afternoon, Sara had insisted that they go for a walk around the neighbourhood to get some air and a bit of sun, before getting some Nando’s for dinner and collapsing into bed.

“It looks just like it does on TV and in films,” Ava had said as they walked, looking at the rows ofneat Victorian townhouses as red double-decker buses drove by, followed by a Harrods truck.

“Wait til you see the rest of it, babe,” Sara had replied, swinging Ava’s hand.

They left the hotel around half-past nine, after Sara had sent a few quick text messages, and Ava sent a few longer ones, including responding to the essay her mom had sent her in response to her “Got here safely, flight was all good. Here’s a couple of photos from our walk this evening. Talk to you tomorrow xx” message. Sara had been eager to get going to lose herself in sight-seeing and try to forget about what was happening the following day. Being back in the city she loved so much and with her gorgeous girlfriend by her side made it a little easier to push her anxieties aside. They bought skip-the-line tickets to St Paul’s Cathedral, which was their first attraction for the day. They climbed up the winding staircase to the Whispering Gallery in the interior of the dome, then continued further up the narrow stairs built with seventeenth century OHS in mind, and few changes had been made since. Eventually they made it to the top, and looked out at the view across the City, the river and Greater London, where it wasn’t impeded by skyscrapers.

“Oh, wow,” Ava said, taking in the view. Immediately, she began to spot other famous landmarks.

“Yeah, it’s not bad,” Sara smiled as she took in the familiar sights, holding her hair back from the wind with one hand, and onto the railing to look over with the other.

They spent another hour and half in the Cathedral, looking around the main space, as well as the crypts where many of the nice and notable of English history are buried. Ava was glad they arrived at the Cathedral when they did, as it was now filling with tour groups, so she and Sara headed out and down across the Millennium Bridge to Southbank. Sara led the way to Borough Market, and Ava was amazed to find such a place in modern-day central London. They wandered amongst the stalls and bought some fruit for the coming days, then Sara insisted they buy a sausage roll each for an early lunch.

While sitting on a bench eating their sausage rolls, Ava asked, “How do you manage jet lag when you’re flying? I get that if you’re flying around Europe that it wouldn’t be much of an issue but - ”

“Babe, I know that planes and flying is usually my safe topic, but I can’t do it right now, ok?” Sara said, looking at Ava.

“Oh, yeah, of course, sorry,” Ava said, feeling stupid. Of course it was the last thing Sara wanted to think about right now. It was hard enough for her to ignore her anxieties with the constant stream of planes flying overhead as they made their descent into Heathrow, she didn’t need Ava bringing it up as well.

“It’s ok,” Sara said with a small smile, patting Ava’s leg, pastry crumbs sticking to her jeans. “The answer is you generally just stick to British time. So breakfast at 6pm, lunch at midnight, however the timezones line up, just try to keep to a normal routine.”

“That makes sense,” Ava said.

Sara finished the last of her sausage roll. “Up the Shard next?” she asked, just able to see the top of the tower between the sheds of Borough Market. Before leaving Star City, Sara had looked through Ava’s dog-eared and well-marked copy of the Lonely Planet London Guidebook, and took note of where in particular Ava wanted to visit.

“Up the Shard,” Ava said with a smile, looking forwarded to more views of the city on this lovely, clear day.

They returned to their hotel later in the afternoon after visiting the Shard and walking along the Thames to Tower Bridge, where they climbed the tower and visited the Victorian Engine Rooms, which Ava knew her dad would have loved, but was pleasantly surprised to see how excited Sara was by the old-timey machinery. Back in their room, they both changed into sweatpants, then Ava sat down at the desk to write in her diary and further examine the Lonely Planet Guidebook, while Sara sat on the bed, aimlessly flicking TV channels. Eventually she stopped, paying as much attention to the window as to the TV.

“What are you watching?” Ava asked, climbing onto the bed beside Sara, clutching her guidebook.

“QI,” Sara said, looking at the TV.

“It looks like an old episode,” Ava said, placing her guidebook by her side.

“Yep. It will be because it’s on Dave.”

“Dave?”

“The TV station.”

“There is a TV station called Dave?”

“Yep.”

“As in the shortened version of the man’s name David. Dave?”

“Yep.”

“Huh,” said Ava, feeling as though she’d just discovered something completely amazing. “Any thoughts yet on dinner?”

“Any ideas from your book?” Sara asked, leaning against Ava.

Ava wrapped her arm around Sara’s shoulder. “Lots, but they include pretty much every single cuisine possible, so I’d like you to help me narrow it down.”

“Let me have look at what you’ve marked,” Sara said, and Ava handed her the book. “I have to take you to some of my favourite places later in the week too.”

Ava smiled. “I’m looking forward to that.”

“Sorry I’m not being much fun right now,” Sara said.

“It’s ok,” Ava said, giving Sara a squeeze.

“Now we’re here, I just want it to be over.”

“I understand.”

“Can we get take-away for dinner? Do you have any take-away options selected? Then I’ll take you for an evening stroll if you’re up for it?” Sara suggested.

“Is it ok that I’m kind of exhausted and just want to lie around and watch TV?”

“Of course,” Sara said. “So… picnic in the hotel room then?”

Ava smiled. “Perfect. But you still haven’t chosen a cuisine.”

“Dumplings? I’m sure you’ll find somewhere good in your book.”

Ava found a restaurant she had previously bookmarked that would deliver dumplings to the hotel. The concierge gave her a funny look when she went downstairs to collect their meal from the delivery guy, but the food smelt amazing and Ava didn’t care. They picnicked on the bed, stuffing themselves with the delicious morsels of food. Afterwards they showered separately (the bathroom being much too small for the two of them to be in at once) and watched more TV before falling asleep.

…

Ava was slightly surprised to see the TV on when she woke and wondered if something was wrong when she couldn’t hear anything before she noticed the little red mute sign on the bottom of the screen and closed captions on. She looked up and saw Sara sitting up beside her, already dressed, with her knees pulled up to her chest and her feet tucked under the blankets.

“Hi,” Ava said, propping herself up with her elbow.

“Hi,” Sara replied, sounding flat.

“Did you get much sleep?”

“Some,” Sara shrugged.

“What time is it?” Ava asked, deciding not to push Sara on the sleep issue. As far as Ava had been aware, Sara had fallen asleep around the same time as her, and had been asleep at whatever time it was Ava had woken up needing the bathroom, but for all Ava knew that had been only an hour after initially falling asleep as she hadn’t checked the time and her bodily functions were still adjusting to the time difference.

“Twenty past seven. Don’t worry, I wasn’t going to leave without letting you know I was going,” Sara said with a forced smile.

Ava nodded and sat up. There was no point asking Sara if she was ok, Ava knew that she wasn’t. She was terrified, but there was nothing Ava could do now. She’d mentioned to Sara a number of times that she was more than happy to come with her, to wait outside if Sara wanted, but Sara insisted on going alone.

“What time are you leaving?”

“About eight,” Sara said. She had to take the Tube back to Heathrow, and from there she’d get a cab to the nearby British Airways headquarters, in time for her nine-thirty appointment. Not that it would take an hour and a half to get there, and under any other circumstances Sara would be cutting the time much more finely, but she would have left already if she thought it was reasonable.

“Want to go get some breakfast?” Ava asked.

“I’ll come with you,” Sara said, “I don’t know if I’ll eat anything.”

“You should eat something, babe.”

Sara didn’t reply. She watched as Ava slid out of bed, got dressed and brushed her long blonde hair. They went down to the breakfast room, Ava selecting a range of things she hadn’t tried yet, a fat pork sausage, mushrooms, hash browns, and a poached egg. Sara stuck to juice and a piece of fruit toast with butter.

Once they had finished breakfast, Sara quickly brushed her teeth and freshened up. Now that they’d eaten, she was desperate to get going.

“You’re not worried about being in the big city without me?” Sara asked, trying to hide how nervous she was.

“I think I’ll manage,” Ava said. “Do you know how many museums are in London?”

“A couple of hundred?” Sara said with a shrug.

“If I can get wifi, I’ll let you know which one I end up visiting,” Ava said.

Sara nodded. “What are you going to do now?”

“Finish getting ready, write in my diary, send a message to Nate and to mom. My parents are ridiculously early risers, so if they’re up mom might want to FaceTime.”

Sara nodded.

“You can go, babe,” Ava said with a smile, rubbing Sara’s upper-arms.

Sara nodded. She wrapped her arms around Ava, and Ava held her closely. “I’ll see you later. Don’t rush back here. Enjoy wherever you end up.”

“I will,” Ava said, rubbing Sara’s back. “I love you.”

Sara nodded again, forcing herself to let go of Ava. “See you later.”

“See you,” Ava said, as Sara left their room, closing the door softly behind her. Ava sat down heavily on the bed. Sara had asked her not to wish her good luck or anything like that. It wasn’t a matter of luck, Sara had said, it was a matter of finding out whether she was deemed physically fit enough to fly again, and whether or not the airline would have her back. As much as Ava wanted to fret about her girlfriend, she knew Sara didn’t want that, so Ava tried to push her worries about Sara aside and enjoy the day.

Ava set out from the hotel shortly before ten, and took a double-decker bus to South Kensington, very excited to get a seat up the front up the top. She’d wanted to visit the National History Museum, but as soon as she saw the queue of people and the multiple bus loads of tourists, she had second thoughts, and opted for the Victoria and Albert Museum across the road instead. Within moments of entering, Ava had the feeling that this was definitely where she was supposed to be. She was happy to donate a pound for a map, connected to the museum wifi to send a quick message to Sara, and quickly realised how massive the museum was, and that she was never going to cover it in one visit. Ava wandered through the sculpture gallery, before heading upstairs to the Medieval and Renaissance Galleries. She hadn’t realised how much time had passed while she was browsing, but that explained why she was getting hungry so she went back downstairs to the beautiful cafe for lunch.

Unsurprisingly, Ava hadn’t received any messages from Sara, and Ava assumed that no news was good news. The waitress brought Ava her lunch, and again Ava forced herself to focus on what she was doing, rather than what Sara was up to. After lunch, Ava wandered through a couple more galleries downstairs before realising that she had seen enough for one day as her brain couldn’t take any more, so she went via the shop on her way out, but found it just as full of interesting things as the galleries. Eventually Ava returned to the hotel, along with a bag of souvenirs, and wasn’t sure if she should be disappointed or relieved to find that Sara wasn’t back yet, and there was still no message.

Ava FaceTimed her parents, filling them in on her adventures since they’d left San Fransisco, and promised to send more photos. Her dad had lots of questions about the traffic being on the wrong side of the road, and her mom wanted to know if they had any plans to see a show on the West End. After half an hour chatting to her parents, there was still no sign of Sara, so Ava turned on the TV and flicked through the channels, hoping to find something worth watching. Ava settled on re-runs of _Victoria_ , but had hardly been watching for five minutes when the door opened. She jumped up and turned off the TV as Sara entered the room, her demeanour giving nothing away.

“Well?” Ava asked, unable to wait any longer.

“There it is,” Sara said, rummaging through the pockets of her coat which Ava had instead she hang up in the narrow wardrobe and pulling out her phone. “No battery, of course.”

“Babe…?”

Sara put her phone on the charger. “We’re going to have to get in touch with Gideon,” she said. “I did see her at BA, but she was there in her professional capacity of course. Everyone knows we’re friends, but still. It wasn’t the time.”

“What?”

“To ask about what sort of visa you’ll need. BA deal with the paperwork for mine.”

Ava looked at Sara, her eyes wide. “You passed?”

Sara nodded. “I passed,” she said softly.

“Sara, that - ”

Sara swallowed heavily then threw her arms around Ava, holding her as a sob escaped. Ava guided Sara to the bed, where they sat down and Ava held onto Sara, rubbing her back.

“Hey, it’s ok, babe. Everything’s ok now.”

“I’m not sad,” Sara said between sobs, “I - I’m just… it’s just a lot.”

“I know,” Ava said and kissed the top of Sara’s head.

“What did you do today?” Sara asked, wiping her eyes and feeling as though a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders, one she had forgotten she was carrying.

Ava recounted her adventures at the V&A, and showed Sara the souvenirs she bought. “I bought myself this travel mug, and this tea-towel, and this notebook. That mug is for my mom, and that pen and that Roundabout Sign notebook is for my dad. Oh, and these pretty cards are for mom, and these ones are for me. And this is you for,” Ava said, handing Sara a V&A building fridge magnet.

“So you enjoyed the V&A?” Sara said with a smile.

“I’d love to go back,” Ava said. “There’s so much I didn’t see. This is for you too,” she said, pulling out a small jewellery pouch. “I thought it was pretty, but I guess it has extra meaning now.”

Sara opened the pouch and let the gold ring drop into her hand.

“The stone is a labradorite,” Ava explained. “Google told me it’s a good-luck stone and a whole heap of other woo-woo stuff, which I don’t… I don’t know. I just thought it was pretty, and…”

“I love it, thank-you babe,” Sara said. “It’s a gorgeous souvenir.” Sara wriggled the ring onto one of her few ring-free fingers and held it up to the light.

“So, how did it go?” Ava asked.

Sara took a deep breath before explaining her time at British Airways Headquarters. “They’ll send me the contract in a week or so,” she finished. “I’ll have to get my flying hours up again and do some refresher training, and spend a bit of time in the flight simulator. I’m not going to go back to flying 787s immediately, I’ll start with smaller aircraft, probably 737s, though that hasn’t been confirmed yet. It’ll probably take until about March or April next year before I’m piloting commercial aircraft again, but depending on when I sign the contract and HR and payroll get themselves sorted out and I can move back over here… well I could be back by October.”

“That is wonderful news, Sara,” Ava said, holding Sara’s hands. “I am so happy for you, honey.”

“Thank,” Sara said. “Me too. Once my phone comes back to life I’d better message my dad and Charlie and Zari and everyone else. I guess Gideon’s already started the phone tree, but they’ll be wanting to hear from me too.”

“Of course,” Ava said.

“Then do you want to have an early-ish dinner at a pub, then go on the Jack the Ripper Walking Tour, and then come back here and have sex?” Sara asked, looking up at Ava.

“Gosh I love you,” Ava grinned, cupping Sara’s face. “Babe, you know that’s my ultimate ideal evening.”

“You deserve it,” Sara said, holding Ava tightly.


	27. Chapter 27

Sara woke up smiling, and rolled over, looking at Ava, who was still asleep. Sara grabbed her phone and replied to the various messages of congratulations she had received since letting her loved ones know the good news the previous afternoon. At last, Ava stirred.

“Morning, babe,” Ava muttered and stretched.

“Morning,” Sara grinned, feeling lighter than she had for months. She realised she was starving, and was looking forward to get into the hotel’s buffet breakfast. “I hope you’re looking forward to a busy day of touristing. Gideon’s booked a table for dinner and has invited a few others. I promise you’ll like the restaurant, and I probably would have taken you there anyway.”

“Ok,” Ava said with a yawn.

“But I told Gideon that we’re having tomorrow all to ourselves. There’s so much to do here, and I want to show you as much as possible.”

“Aren’t we moving here now?” Ava asked.

Sara paused. “You definitely want to move here with me?”

“Obviously,” Ava said with a sleepy smile, taking Sara’s hands. “I’d move anywhere to be with you.”

“You realise that depending on my schedule, I might only be home half the time some weeks?”

“I know,” Ava said. “And I don’t care. I don’t care if you come and go at odd hours, I want to be there when you get home. I want to be here with you, Sara.”

Sara smiled and kissed Ava. “I love you.”

“I love you more.”

They enjoyed a hearty breakfast, during which Ava talked enthusiastically about her plans for a three-(or more) part exploration of Jack the Ripper for her podcast, being very excited by the topic after their tour the previous evening. They walked off their breakfast around Kensington Gardens, watching the ducks, geese and swans in the Round Pond, before visiting Kensington Palace as soon as it opened to beat the crowds. Afterwards they crossed the Gardens to the Royal Albert Hall and went on the front of house tour, where Ava was very interested in the various ghost stories, while Sara just couldn’t wait to get back there for a concert. After the tour, they wound their way through the streets of pretty terraced houses to Harrods, where they splurged on items in the food hall for a picnic lunch, and went up to Hyde Park to eat on the grass overlooking the Serpentine. They lingered in the park after their lunch, full and content in the afternoon sun.

“You know not every day living here is like this, right?” Sara said, nudging Ava.

“We’d be broke in a month if we dined like that every day, I know that much,” Ava said.

“It was worth it, though,” Sara said, trying to force some food out of her teeth with her tongue.

“Definitely,” Ava replied, watching golden cocker spaniel chase a squirrel, which quickly raced up a tree, away from the enthusiastic dog. Ava smiled.

“The weather’s usually more shit, too. But as Charlie and Gideon will say, when it’s good, it’s hard to beat.”

“It is so nice today,” Ava said, wishing they could do this every day. The gardens, the palace, the theatre, the food, Sara. Everything was perfect. Ava rested her hand on top of Sara’s.

“There’s still so much to show you,” Sara said, turning her hand over to hold Ava’s.

“There’s still tomorrow,” Ava said, knowing they wouldn’t do anything else this afternoon but return to the hotel and go out to dinner to celebrate.

“So much more than we can cover tomorrow.”

“Lucky we’ll be back,” Ava said. “I’m sure living here will help me get through the entire Lonely Planet guidebook.”

Sara leant over and gave her a kiss. “Lucky indeed. We can tick off each thing you want to do.”

“I’ve started doing that already,” Ava said. “And I keep thinking of more things I hadn’t even considered, like a ghost walk from the same company who did the Jack the Ripper tour. They have five different ghost walks, babe. I wanna do all of them.”

“Next time,” Sara smiled, taking the last of the fancy biscuits. “I think there’s ghost tours at Hampton Court Palace too. If not, there’s definitely ghosts. You’d like it there, but it’s a full day out.”

“Next time?” Ava asked.

“Next time,” Sara grinned.

Eventually they returned to the hotel, happy to settle on the bed, FaceTime their respective parents (Ava’s call to Pam and Randy taking much longer than Sara’s short-and-sweet update to Quentin), and flick through the TV channels, eventually settling on reruns of Antiques Roadshow, before they getting ready to go out for dinner.

Sara kept a tight hold of Ava’s hand as they fought their way through the crowds at Covent Garden Station.

“Is it always like this?” Ava asked, not wanting to get separated from Sara in the crush of people trying to get through the barriers onto the street.

“No,” said Sara with a mischievous grin, “At this time of an evening, it’s usually worse.”

“Hey! Here she is!” Charlie exclaimed once when they arrived at the restaurant a few minutes later. She pulled Sara into a hug, which Sara was all too happy to receive. Ava had been too distracted by the decorations of dozens, if not hundreds, of puppets hanging from the ceiling of the Indian restaurant tucked away in an alley alongside the Royal Opera House to have seen Charlie and Zari and the rest of the party waiting for them.

Introductions were made for Ava with those she didn’t know, as she and Sara were the last to arrive, and Sara was joyfully reunited with her friends. Ava was glad she already knew Charlie and Zari, and noticed almost at once that Charlie’s accent had gotten stronger in the few weeks since they’d been back in London.

“Sometimes I don’t even know what she’s saying,” Zari confessed to Ava later on.

John Constantine had somehow scored himself an invitation, and Ava realised that John and Charlie got along very well. She was introduced to Leonard Snart and his husband Ray, the only other person who had never worked in aviation, but worked as an engineer specialising in solar power. And of course there was Gideon. Ava hadn’t known what to expect from her, and seeing the pretty woman with dark hair and wearing a very nice black blouse and trousers was both entirely what Ava had expected and completely unexpected at the same time. Everyone took their seats, with Ava finding herself between Sara and Zari.

“The only things in Gideon’s wardrobe are her BA uniforms, and high-end items in black,” Sara said with a smirk as she sat down, apparently reading Ava’s mind.

“This place is amazing,” Ava said, still taking in the decor.

“We’ll be coming here a few times a year,” Sara smiled. “Everything’s halal, which is handy for Zari, plus it’s all delicious and the menu is seasonal. Do you get now why I would have brought you anyway?”

“Yes,” Ava said, “But I have no idea what any of this is,” she confessed as she scanned the menu.

“I’ll order for us both and we can share,” Sara said, patting Ava’s leg under the table.

“Good thinking,” Ava said.

Drinks and starters were soon served, and the conversation flowed freely. Zari told Ava about her new job at Heathrow where there were more planes in an hour than there were in Franklin in a week, and how she and Charlie had signed the paperwork to buy their own place a couple of weeks ago, but would be staying in Gideon’s spare room for a few more weeks until settlement. Food continued to appear, coming quicker than the diners could clear the plates, and Ava began to suspect that Gideon had ordered everything on the menu. She caught a couple of knowing glances between Gideon and Sara who sat opposite one-another, as though they were co-conspirators in the never-ending flow of drinks and food.

All too soon, though hours had passed and night had fallen on the city, they were saying their farewells, and heading out into the night.

“There were have been years when we were only going out at this time,” Leo said, stifling a yawn.

“And now we’ll all be safely tucked up in bed within an hour,” Sara laughed.

“We’ve gotten old,” Charlie said.

“We’ve gotten boring,” Leo said.

“You’ve all actually got some sense,” said Ray, holding Leo’s hand. “Our dear tourists and Charlie might get a sleep-in in the morning, but I have to work, and you have a plane to fly.”

“Hey, once school starts in another couple of weeks, I’ll be the busiest out of all of us,” Charlie said. “Years 10 and 11s don’t teach themselves.”

“Where are you off to?” Sara asked Leo, not having had much of a chance to talk to him during the meal.

“Shanghai,” said Leo, as though he’d said he was going to Tesco.

Ava was impressed, but realised that this would soon become her life, in which a fair percentage of her circle, including Sara, would be spending a lot of time a long way away.

“So you won’t be flying us home, then?” Sara asked.

“San Fran twice in a month? I don’t think so,” said Leo.

“Thanks for that,” Sara said, wrapping her arm around Gideon’s shoulders. “Having Leo on our plane. He even let me into the cockpit.”

“Which was against regulations, I might add,” Leo said. Sara just grinned.

“I really don’t know why you’re thanking me,” Gideon said. “It was just a bit of luck.”

“Ah-huh,” said Sara, not believing Gideon for a second. “Ok, Ava. Time to call it a night. We’ve still got a busy day tomorrow.”

“Also you are well-charged and need to sleep it off,” Charlie said, giving Sara a nudge.

“It’s been great to meet you,” Ava said to Gideon. “Thank-you for arranging dinner.”

“Of course, Ms Sharpe,” Gideon said, as Sara did the rounds, giving all her friends a hug goodbye.

“Ava, please.”

“Ava it is then,” Gideon said. “Though really, Ava, it’s all thanks to you.”

“I’m just the moral support,” Ava said.

“Exactly,” said Gideon, “And our dear Ms Lance has been in desperate need of that for quite some time. Without you having dropped out of the sky in Franklin that day, well, who knows where we’d all be?”

Ava nodded and was about to respond when Sara reappeared by her side, gave Gideon a hug and took Ava by the hand, turning back to wave to her friends before going to find a cab.

…

“I’m guessing you have today all planned out?” Ava asked as they got dressed in the morning. They were taking their time after a couple of busy days and a fairly late night. Ava had scribbled down a brief outline for some future Jack the Ripper podcasts, and realised she had at five episodes worth of content, which was fitting as there were five victims, and this made her very excited. But the podcast could wait, as for now there was nowhere she would rather be than in London with Sara.

“Maybe,” Sara said with a smile, looking back through the mirror as she did her hair and catching Ava’s eye.

“Gunna tell me your plans?”

“It was hard to decide,” Sara said. “Seriously hard, but I think you’ll enjoy my program. Wear your comfy walking shoes.”

“I’ve hardly worn anything else,” Ava said.

Sara chuckled. “Ok, well first we’re going to Westminster Abbey and doing the self-guided tour there.”

“Oh, mom was asking about going there yesterday.”

“Yeah, and it’s a pretty special place,” Sara said. “It has an aura to it. After the Abbey, we’ll walk up Whitehall to Trafalgar Square and have a brief look around the National Gallery. I say brief, because you could spend all day in there, but free entry means you can pop in, have a wander to check it out, and come back another time. Then I know you’ll be getting hungry, but we’ll get a coffee and maybe something to eat to tide us over, because I have plans for lunch. We’ll walk up to Leicester Square, maybe pop into M&M World just because it’s there and it’s insane that it exists but it’s kinda brilliant at the same time.”

“And we both like M&Ms,” Ava said.

“Exactly,” Sara smiled. “Also when we’re in Leicester Square, we’ll go to the TKTS booth and find some discounted seats to a West End show for tonight.”

“Really! Honey, I’m excited already! Do you know what show? I’ve seen posters in the Tube stations, but…”

“We don’t know what shows they’ll be selling tickets for,” Sara said, “So don’t get your hopes up on any one thing. We can decide once we’re there and we see what’s on. Then after that - ”

“Oh, yeah. I forgot you hadn’t finished,” Ava said.

Sara smiled. “After that we’ll saunter down Piccadilly, more or less heading straight to Fortnum and Mason’s, where we’re having early afternoon tea-come-late lunch. I’ve booked us a table. That’s where my good coffee is from, and the other fancy things that Gideon sends me.”

“Wait, so I can buy the coffee at the restaurant?” Ava asked.

“It’s a department store that also has a couple of restaurants. You can buy just about anything there, especially food-related. It’s a long way from being cheap, but it’s pretty amazing. Then after lunch and a wander around Fortnum’s, we’ll go to Hatchard’s which is a five-story bookshop established in the 1700s which is next door. After that, even though there’s so much more to see, we’ll probably be ready to come back here for a couple of hours before going out again to our show.”

“Babe, you should be a travel planner,” Ava said.

“I could only do it for London,” Sara said. “Nearly ready?”

“Almost,” Ava said, grabbing her rain coat, as the weather, after one perfect day, was looking questionable at best, and her camera. “I know we haven’t had a lot of time, but I’ve managed to fit in almost everything I wanted to see.”

“Items 1 to 10 on that list were the Jack the Ripper tour though,” Sara teased.

Ava laughed. “Exactly! So getting through most of items 11 to 20 has been a bonus.”

Sara pocketed her phone and tucked her sunglasses into the front of her t-shirt. “All right, babe. Let’s go touristing.”

…

The alarm on Ava’s phone went at 6am, with Sara’s going shortly afterwards, forcing them to wake up, though giving them a little bit of time to lay in bed.

“I don’t want to go,” Ava said, stretching in the big, soft hotel bed. Her feet were sore and her legs were tired after days of walking, but that didn’t mean she was ready to return to her life in Star City. The more of London she saw the more she realised there was to see, and easier it was to understand why Sara considered this city her home. Ava looked at Sara lying beside her and smiled. This city was going to become her home too because of Sara.

“Lucky we’re coming back then,” Sara said with a smile. She sat up and stretched, wondering if Ava knew that that was only possible because of her. If Ava had never dropped out of the sky in Franklin just over twelve months ago and Charlie hadn’t dared Sara to take Ava home, then Sara highly doubted that she would have come back here. “Guess we better get all that tidied up before breakfast,” she said, looking at their suitcases and the clothes strewn across the floor, which were mostly hers as Ava actually utilised the wardrobe and draws.

“Do we have time for breakfast?” Ava asked.

“Plenty of time,” Sara said.

Ava raised her eyebrows, knowing that what she considered to be plenty of time was quite different to Sara’s opinion.

“Ok, we have some time,” Sara smirked. “Come on, if we’re in the breakfast room at exactly 7 o’clock then we’ll at least have a reasonable amount of time.”

They got as dressed and ready as they could before going down for breakfast. Ava wished she knew how the hotel chefs made the scrambled eggs so soft and fluffy, which she enjoyed with crispy bacon, roasted tomato and toast, while Sara opted for fruit salad and flakey pastries. They returned to their room to finish packing, then regretfully checked out of the hotel and dragged their suitcases to the station.

“What if we miss the train?” Ava asked as they waited for the lift down to the platform.

“Babe, that's not really possible,” Sara said. “It’s the Piccadilly Line. Even if we miss one train, the next will be in four-to-six minutes.”

Sure enough, there was a train in next to no time and they were on their way to Heathrow, watching the outlying towns of London pass by. Check-in, security and passport control was no issue, and they had time for a wander around the terminal before boarding the plane.

Sitting once again in Premium Economy, Sara leant over Ava, looking out the window as the plane taxied to the runway.

“Want to swap seats?” Ava asked.

“No, I’m good,” Sara said.

Ava smiled and wrapped her arm over Sara’s shoulders. “You’ll be back here in a month or so.”

“I know,” Sara said. She looked up at Ava. “Can’t wait til you can join me.”

“Same her,” Ava said. She followed Sara’s gaze and looked back out the window, seeing planes from every corner of the world. Some of the tail designs she recognised, but others were completely foreign to her. The plane slowed and came to a standstill as they waited in line to use the runway for their return to America.


	28. Chapter 28

It had been a strange and exciting couple of days for Sara. She’d left Franklin for the last time, opting to spend her final night in the US with Ava in Star City. Though Ava had to work in the morning, she was able to arrange her schedule so she could leave the office at lunchtime to have lunch with Sara and Quentin, before driving with Sara down to San Fransisco.

“Last time I’ll be driving on the right side of the road for a while,” Sara said as they were cruising down the highway.

“Do you ever drive in England?”

“Nah, driving in London in for the insane only, and to get anywhere else you can pretty much take the train, or I’d get Gideon or Charlie to take me. Sometimes if there’s time between flights and I’m somewhere that drives on the right side of the road, I’ve hired a car and gone for a drive to whatever the main out-of-city attraction is. Maybe next summer we could go touring around France for a couple of weeks along with a few million other tourists.”

“Anywhere you want to take me, I am more than happy to go with you,” Ava said with a smile, immediately fantasising about staying in a chateau and visiting pretty little villages and lunches of fresh baguettes, local cheese and wine.

They later made their way through the traffic to arrive at San Fransisco Airport and parked in the short-term carpark. Over the past few weeks, Sara had managed to sell her house in Franklin, though there was still some legalities to sort out, pack everything up and send most of her things to London. She was travelling two suitcases full of the essentials, incase her boxes of goods were held up. Gideon’s spare room was waiting for her; Zari and Charlie having only moved into their own new place the previous weekend. Ava would now take Sara’s car, and take care of selling that too.

Sara and Ava lingered at the entrance to the International Terminal. Sara had checked her bags and had her ticket, but it was difficult to part from Ava.

“People probably think I work for an airline because I’m in a pantsuit and everyone else is well…” Ava looked Sara up and down.

“In their sweat pants?” Sara asked with a laugh. She always dressed for comfort when not the one actually flying the plane. “People will definitely think you work for an airline, and there is nothing wrong with that. Oh, I downloaded the Jack the Ripper episodes to listen to on the plane,” Sara said, finding any topic they hadn’t spoken about during the long drive down to San Francisco to talk about, though she had been saving this one to surprise Ava.

“Of Stabcast? Really?” Ava asked.

“Really,” Sara smiled.

“But I thought you hated that sort of thing.”

Sara shrugged. “Well, the tour the other month was pretty great, and it’s not so bad when the crime is over a hundred years old. Plus it’ll be nice to hear your voice on the plane.”

“Babe, you can FaceTime me as soon as you get to Gideon’s. It’s not like we’re unable to speak for months.”

“I know,” Sara said. “But it’ll be nice while I’m in the air, on the way to doing my thing to be able to listen to you doing yours.”

Ava smiled. “On a similar note, I think I’ve finished writing that story.”

“You’re allowed to call it a novel.”

“That feels a bit pretentious,” Ava said, feeling shy when it came to this topic. “It’s just a story that I wrote. Admittedly it’s a long one, but… well, you know.”

“I know,” Sara said, swinging Ava’s hands. “So what are you going to do with it now?”

“Edit it,” Ava said. “Gary from back in DC has offered to beta-read it, but I could write total drivel and he’d still tell me it was worth the Pulitzer Prize.”

“Once you’ve had an edit, send it to Gideon,” Sara said.

“I hardly know her and she is a bit intimidating and - ”

“I believe in you, babe,” Sara said. “I’ll tell her about it, if you’d like. She can beta-read it too. I promise her feedback will constructive.”

“Maybe I’ll give it to Gary for an ego-boost first.”

Sara smiled. “And I know that it’s set in a Franklin-esque small town, but since I don’t live in one anymore, I would read it for you too.”

“Really?” Ava asked.

“You’re crossing the world for me, babe. The least I can do is read a draft of your future New York Times best-selling thriller novel.”

Ava grinned. “Let me edit it, then I’ll send it to you. I really don’t know if it’s good, I - ”

“No doubting yourself,” Sara said. “I’ve used up both our quotas of self-doubt for this year at least. It’s worth a try, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Ava said, looking at Sara. “It’s worth a try.” Her eye caught the time on Sara’s watch. “You better go. Don’t want to get stuck in the queue.”

“And you have a long drive back to Star City,” Sara said. “Take plenty of stops along the way if you need to.”

Ava nodded. “I’d say I’ll call you when I get back, but you’ll only be a fraction of the way there. I hope you don’t have any issues with TSA.”

“It’s ok, I’ve got my shiny new BA ID card, with a nice little medical symbol, so they’ll know I’ll set of the buzzer, but even though I’m not flying the plane now, I can still use the crew queue. It makes things quicker and they have less-jerky TSA agents manning that,” Sara grinned. “I’m really excited.”

“And you have every right to be,” Ava said. “I’m so proud of you, babe.”

“Thanks,” Sara said, pulling Ava into a tight hug. They held one another for a couple of minutes, memorising how the other felt in their arms to help during the weeks they were to be apart.

“Ok, I really should go,” Sara said eventually, letting go of Ava.

“Have a good flight, First Officer Lance,” Ava smiled, giving Sara a kiss on the lips.

“Miss you already, Captain Pantsuit,” Sara said with a wave before disappearing into the International Terminal.

…

Sara waited impatiently at the arrivals gate at Heathrow airport. Every time the doors slid open and she had a glimpse of customs she hoped to see Ava. Sara checked the time. 42 minutes since Ava’s plane had touched down. Giving approximately five minutes for taxiing, ten to disembark, five for a bathroom break, fifteen in the passport and immigration queue, and ten waiting for baggage meant that Ava should appear at any moment now. Sara adjusted her weight from one foot to another. The doors slid open and a family of five including a toddler having a complete meltdown emerged. Sara smiled to herself. 43 minutes.

Again, the doors slid aside and were about to close behind an elderly couple when they opened once more, and Ava stepped through. Sara beamed, despite Ava looking tired with limp hair in need of a wash, and crumpled clothing, Sara couldn’t be happier to see her. Sara waved to get Ava’s attention, and Ava made her way down to Sara as quickly as she could with two large suitcases in tow. As soon as Ava got around the barrier, she let go of the suitcases and flung her arms around Sara.

“Welcome to your almost-home,” Sara said.

“God, I missed you,” Ava said, not letting Sara go.

“It’s been two months! Not even that long. We spoke yesterday.”

“It feels like two years.”

“Yeah, I know,” Sara said. She’d been so busy since moving back to London that the time had flown by, but she knew that was not the case for Ava, for whom the drudgery of her Star City job had been relentless, broken up only by the five-night express trip across the world she was making now to celebrate Thanksgiving in London with Sara.

“Those giant ‘welcome’ posters nearly made me cry,” Ava confessed. “I was feeling a bit motion-sick during the flight, and I’m jet-lagged, and having those giant, smiling posters… you should be on one of those. You’ve got the smile for it, Sara Lance, British Airways pilot.”

Sara swallowed back happy tears. “I used to think _Love Actually_ was a stupid film,” she said. “I mean, I still think it is, but it’s always been right about the arrival gate at Heathrow.”

Ava finally let go of Sara and looked at her. “I am so proud of you.”

Sara shrugged and took one of Ava’s suitcases in one hand, and Ava’s hand in the other. “It’s all your fault.”

Ava grinned, grabbing the other suitcase and letting Sara lead them to the Underground station. “How did you go yesterday?” Ava asked, as Sara was well into the process of getting her flying hours back up.

“Fucking loved it. And I flew again this morning. It was astupidly early start-time, but being up in the air during sunrise was worth the 4am start.”

Ava grinned.

“I’m glad you’re here now, though,” Sara said. “I’m going to like coming home to you.”

Ava swung her hand. “You’re going to be fun to come home to too, baby. So, when do we get the keys?”

“Saturday,” Sara said, though she knew Ava already knew that. Gideon had found a few townhouses which might interest them, and Sara had selected one, having given Ava a few virtual tours of their future home. Ava had liked the layout and had seen the potential of the house, including a shoe-box sized so-called third bedroom which she was determined to convert into a recording studio for StabCast.

“And I fly out Sunday morning,” Ava said, disappointed that she wasn’t going to be able to help Sara with the move. They’d be staying in a hotel again during this trip, as it would take Sara a couple of weeks to move into the house properly, but at least Ava was able to leave the extra clothing and books and a few other bits and pieces she’d brought over with her in their new house. “Oh well, when I come back in January, it will be _our_ house properly, Captain Lance.”

“Still a First Officer,” Sara corrected as they made their way to the Tube station. “Give me a year or two, then I’ll start working on the Captain bit.”

Ava grinned. “I’m looking forward to waiting at that gate for you. Not every flight, but every so often.”

“I’d like that,” Sara said. She pulled an Oyster card out of her pocket. “That’s for you, by the way.”

“Oh, thanks heaps, babe,” Ava said.

“It’s got 50 quid on it, so that’ll last for this visit and hopefully a couple of weeks once you move here, so long as you’re not travelling out to Zone 6 here every second day for me.”

They swiped their cards and went through the barriers onto the platform. The sign on the platform informed them the next train was in two minutes.

“Hey, Ava?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank-you,” Sara said. “Really, I - gosh, I love you.”

“I love you too,” Ava said.

“Always,” Sara grinned, and pulled Ava in for a passionate kiss on the platform as the wind from the approaching train tussled their hair.

They climbed into the train, trying to place the bags as much out of the way as possible and not run over the toes of any other passengers. The doors slid shut and Ava’s eye caught a map across the platform with the layout of the terminal and a big red sticker with an arrow saying _You Are Here._ Ava smiled and held Sara’s hand as the train jolted forward towards London.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The End.
> 
> Thank-you SO much everyone for reading, leaving kudos and comments on this story. I've really enjoyed living in this alternate universe for a little while, and I hope you have to. I'm sure I'll be back with more Avalance (I've been watching bits of Arrow recently, so expect Felicity to show up, as her and Sara's friendship is gorgeous), but I do need a little break from writing. Thank-you once again :)


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